Supporting terrorism-just another day in the life of arty-sharties

If there were to be a popularity contest taken among the denizens of the art world between George Bush and Osama Bin Laden, Bush would be lucky if could break into double digits, if that. The arts establishment is so utterly left-wing and so rabidly anti-American that it has found no qualms in supporting terrorists(to them they are"freedom fighters"), brutal dictators like Castro and Khomeni("anti-imperialists"), totalitarian regimes that have killed in millions, like those of Mao, Stalin and Khmer-Rouge("experiments in a more noble social system").

So I was not surprised to read this-
The decision made by the Institute of Contemporary Arts, known to all as the ICA, that rather odd attractive (on the outside) building on the Mall, to hold a satellite discussion with a member of Hamas, the group that has been designated as terrorist by the United States, the European Union (and its members) as well as everyone who has ever had any dealings with it (and that includes members of the other Palestinian groups) is, nevertheless, problematic. For one thing, this does not even pretend to be any form of art. Well, all right, a political discussion may be of some importance even if it has no artistic significance, though, possibly not in an institution that uses taxpayers’ money to promote (allegedly) knowledge and understanding of the contemporary art scene.

-------------------------------------------

The ICA and Mr Crooke are not, however, interested in a discussion of terrorism, its causes and effects and alternative political activity. Their intention is, presumably two-fold. In the first place, misunderstanding the sayings of people like Baudelaire, they are out to épater la bourgeoisie, to shock the complacent middle classes or the establishment or whatever. This ignores the fact that, as far as the arts in this country are concerned (and, indeed, as far as many other institutions are concerned) the establishment is not the bourgeoisie but those juvenile left-wingers who use state hand-outs, which is not something the likes of Baudelaire would have approved of, to scream at the top of their voices of their own moral superiority because they undermine political and ethical decencies.

The second intention is considerably more straight-forward: Mr Crooke’s aim for whatever motives, is to make terrorists and mass murderers acceptable, their followers objects of compassion and to present the one democratic state of the Middle East, Israel, as an oppressive ogre. No other point of view is to be allowed in his universe. Using those state hand-outs the ICA supports him in this less than laudable endeavour. Perhaps, they can no longer find enough contemporary art they can actually approve of.

Just another day in the life of leftie arty-sharties.
Read the whole thing.

(emphasis mine)

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