A museum in Seattle had to close its “Confirming Hate Together” exhibit after several employees walked out in protest of Israel.
Employees with the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle reportedly organized under the handle @wlm4palestine on Instagram, accusing the exhibit of conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism. The “Confirming Hate Together” exhibit billed itself as an exhibition for “anti-Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander hate, Black hate and anti-Jewish hate.”
More than 20 employees walked out last Wednesday — the same day that the exhibit opened.
“A majority of our walkout collective is made up of the most vulnerable employees of the Wing Luke Museum — front of house staff and part-time workers,” a post from @wlm4palestine reads. “There are 22 known WLM Staff across departments and organization levels who are still in solidarity with walkouts, with others who are in solidarity.”
The employees went as far to demand that the museum remove “any language…that attempt[s] to frame Palestinian liberation and anti-Zionism as antisemitism.” The anti-Israel protesters also ask for the museum to “acknowledge the limited perspectives presented in this exhibition.”
“Missing perspectives include those of Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslim communities who are also experiencing an increased amount of violence, scapegoating, and demonization as Zionist forces continue the genocide in Palestine,” the petition said.
The campaign even set up a GoFundMe page asking for donations to compensate wages missed. As of this writing, it has raised over $4,300.
The striking employees also set up a GoFundMe campaign to compensate for missed wages. The campaign has raised $3,939 as of Sunday afternoon.
“The Confronting Hate Together exhibit shares perspectives that conflate anti-Zionism as antisemitism. As Jewish Voices for Peace outlines, anti-semitism is discrimination, targeting, violence, and dehumanizing stereotypes directed at Jews because they are Jewish,” the page states.
“Anti-Zionism is opposing the political ideology of Zionism, which resulted in the expulsion of 750,000 Indigenous Palestinians from their land and homes in 1948, and is the basis of the ongoing genocide. By conflating these two terms, the Confronting Hate Together exhibit is upholding Zionism, and thereby dangerously erasing the violence and oppression of Palestinians,” it adds.
The Wing Luke Museum not only closed the exhibit but expressed support for the walk-out, calling it respectful.
“As an organization rooted in dialogue, we acknowledge and support the right of our staff to express their beliefs and personal truths and to this end, we are holding space for a careful and thoughtful process of listening with intent to hear multiple perspectives in pursuit of a mutual way forward,” the museum said in Facebook post, per Fox News.
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