Palestinian ambassador urges London hospital to reinstate Gazan children’s art exhibition

Hospital’s decision to remove artwork follows pressure from campaign group UK Lawyers for Israel

 LONDON 13/11/2018. Palestinian Ambassador Husam S. Zomlot, at the Palestinian Mission in London 
Picture by Gustavo Valiente for The National
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The head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK has expressed “profound dismay” after artwork by Gazan schoolchildren was removed from the entrance to the children’s outpatient department at London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

The artwork displayed in the hospital was the work of pupils at two UN Relief and Works Agency schools.

The decision to remove the artwork came following pressure from interest group UK Lawyers for Israel.

In a letter to Lesley Watts CBE, chief executive of the Chelsea and Westminster Trust, Husam Zomlot said the hospital had caved in to “racist and discriminatory bullying that completely ignores the realities on the ground as well as international law”.

Among UKLFI’s complaints was that one painting showed a Palestinian flag flying above Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.

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“We have found no basis for their claims that these paintings violate any law or could reasonably provoke Jewish patients who felt 'vulnerable or victimised' by the paintings, as claimed by the UKLFI,” Mr Zomlot said.

“That complaint flies in the face of international law.

“Al Aqsa is located in East Jerusalem, an occupied Palestinian area and the future capital of the state of Palestine as per international resolutions.”

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The ambassador also responded to the UKLFI’s claim that “it is offensive for Jewish people to see a Palestinian flag over their holiest site”, saying it “is an affront to us as Palestinians and to Muslims around the world for whom Al Aqsa is the third holiest site and the first direction of prayer”.

Mr Zomlot went on to stress the plight of Palestinian children, saying “almost a million in Gaza have endured a 15-year Israeli blockade that has starved the impoverished Gaza Strip of everything from medicines to building materials”.

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He notes Save the Children recently reported that 80 per cent of children in the Gaza Strip suffer from mental health problems directly attributed to Israel’s blockade.

In his letter, Mr Zomlot concluded by asking for the exhibition to be reinstated, saying he has “faith in your first instinct to support these traumatised children”.

Mr Zomlot urged the trust to continue to do this in “future for all children traumatised by oppression”.

Updated: February 27, 2023, 11:36 PM