The closure “until the ceasefire” decided by artists and curators, and communicated yesterday, at the first press preview, was not enough to calm the protests surrounding the presence of Israel at the Venice Biennale and the behavior of some Western governments regarding the situation in Gaza. Today, the second day of opening by invitation, and the first of inaugurations, around 11.30 a large group of people, around 500, gathered in front of the Israeli and United States pavilions in the Biennale Gardens – they are located next to each other – for a substantial protest action. They did it without any warning and also taking the police forces present on site by surprise, also with the function of avoiding protests, moreover at the same time as the press conference for the inauguration of the Biennale underway at the Arsenale.
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The demonstrators – obviously in possession of an invitation – coming from all over the world, many Americans and Germans, were part of the network Art Not Genocide Alliance, which for months has been calling for the exclusion of Israel from the Biennial on the model of what was done for South Africa, due to apartheid, from 1968 to 1993, managing to collect 24 thousand signatures so far. Under the slogan “No death in Venice / No to genocide pavilion” (No death in Venice, no to the genocide pavilion) the demonstrators threw to the ground and distributed hundreds of leaflets denouncing Israeli policies in Gaza, and moved from the pavilion Israeli, to the American, to the German, “sanctioning” with slogans and leaflets the three governments which, according to the march, bear the greatest responsibility for the ongoing massacre. There are many Palestinian flags and placards condemning the ongoing aggression. The group was made up of activists from all over the world, many Americans and Germans.
Despite rather clear and divisive chants, such as “Germany is a racist state” or “Israel is a terrorist state”, shouted repeatedly, the procession moved through the Gardens in an absolutely peaceful way, in front of the various pavilions, without encountering resistance by the police, nor protests by the public present. The procession, having left the Biennale, broke up near Via Garibaldi. The protest, apparently organized well in advance, does not appear to have a direct link with the closure of the pavilion announced yesterday by the Israeli artists.
