18 for damaging an art exhibit depicting a Palestinian suicide bomber as "Snow White" at a time when Israel mourns victims of a deadly attack this week.
Ambassador Zvi Mazel was expelled from Stockholm’s Museum of Antiquities on Friday, January 15, after he disconnected cables of a mounted spotlight at Stockholm’s Museum of National Antiquities causing it to crash into the work, eyewitnesses said.
He reportedly denounced the work as "obscene" and a "monstrosity", saying it insulted the victims’ families. It depicted a smiling female bomber who killed herself and at least 19 Israelis in Haifa last year.
RED WATER
A photo of the woman, 29-year-old trainee lawyer Hanadi Jaradat, appeared as the sail on a boat in a basin filled with red water, with "Snovit" (Snow White in Swedish) written on the side.
The red apparently symbolized her attack at the beachfront Maxim’s restaurant in October – one of the bloodiest in a series of suicide bombings by Palestinian militants.
The ambassador’s protest occurred at the opening of the "Making Differences" exhibition – part of a forthcoming international anti-genocide conference hosted by the Swedish Government and to which Israel has been invited
"LEGITIMIZATION OF GENOCIDE"
Mazel, speaking on Israeli television’s Channel 2, said the artwork, titled "Snow White and the Madness of Truth," was a "complete legitimization of genocide, the murder of innocent people, innocent civilians, under the guise of culture."
However artist Dror Feiler, an Israeli who lives in Sweden and created the piece with his wife, Gunilla Skold Feiler, told an Israeli newspaper that the artwork was not intended to glorify the suicide bomber. He said it must be seen as a "call attention to how weak people left alone can be capable of horrible things," the Cable News Network (CNN) reported
Anna Larsson, a spokeswoman for the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, was quoted as saying that Mazel would be contacted next week and asked to come and "explain himself."
SHARON THANKS AMBASSADOR
Prime Minister Sharon told reporters however that Mazel has his support and of the whole cabinet. "I called the Israeli ambassador to Sweden, Zvi Mazel, yesterday and thanked him for his stand against the growing wave of anti-Semitism," he said.
"I told him the government stands behind him on this issue. We have been witness to mounting anti-Semitism world-wide and in Europe particularly, and the phenomenon is getting worse."
The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, a church backed pro-Israel organization, has also expressed concern about what it described as a rising trend of hatred toward Jews around the globe.
DIPLOMATIC SUPPORT
Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem said they too understood Mazel’s reaction to the artwork, CNN reported. It quoted former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak as telling Israeli Television: "I can absolutely understand him. There are definitely instances where non-diplomatic behavior can send a message in a more correct manner."
The exhibition was believed to come as a shock for relatives of a suicide attack on Wednesday, January 14, carried out by a Palestinian woman which killed four Israelis at the main crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel.
Israel has said it will hunt down and kill the founder of Hamas, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, in retaliation for the blast, in what commentators described Israel’s bluntest warning yet against leaders of the Islamic militant group.
Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim told Israeli radio Friday, January 16, that Sheik Yassin deserves to die, and will be hunted down wherever he may try to hide, the Voice of America (VOA) and other media said.
MARKED FOR DEATH
"Sheik Yassin is marked for death, and he should hide himself deep underground where he won’t know the difference between day and night," the Israeli official reportedly said. He added "we will find him in the tunnels, and we will eliminate him."
Israeli officials have learned Sheik Yassin personally approved Wednesday’s suicide bombing by a Palestinian woman that killed four Israelis at the main crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel, VOA reported.
Sheikh Yassin denied being personally involved in planning attacks. In a very public appearance at a Gaza City mosque Friday he told reporters he does not fear the threat and vowed to continue the resistance until "the Israeli occupation" is destroyed
Israel has been criticized by Washington for building a huge security wall around the Palestinian territories, but the Israeli government says it is the best way to protect the nation against suicide attacks.
