Row over Palestinian exhibition in Australian museum

21 Jan 2005

A museum in South Australia has attracted criticism for hosting an allegedly anti-Semitic exhibition. The "Treasures of Palestine" exhibition has been displayed in central Adelaide for the past month, showing traditional costumes, jewelry and artifacts from the personal collection of Ali Kazak, the head of the general Palestinian delegation to Australia. However, the state's Jewish Community Council president, Norman Schueler, has written to the South Australian Museum accusing the exhibition of "vilifying Israel" and "offending and insulting Jewish Australians". Schueler writes that some of the "dishonest and tendentious material" displayed "depicts Israelis as quasi-Nazis" and is "calculated to incite anti-Israeli hatred and, by extension, anti-Semitism…We are not asking the museum to stop the exhibit or take the stuff down, we are only saying 'be careful what you exhibit in future'." The museum's general manager said the exhibition would not be altered, adding criticism was inevitable when dealing with a complex and emotive topic.