Exhibition Showing ‘Jews’ Eating Babies Not Abusive or Insulting, Police Claim

Drawings at an “antisemitic” art exhibition allegedly showing Jewish people eating babies are not “directly abusive or insulting” to Jews, a police force has decided. The Telegraph has more.

Kent Police has ruled that art in the exhibition condemned by leading Jewish figures and politicians for portraying antisemitic tropes has not reached the threshold to be considered either a hate crime or a non-crime hate incident.

The force was responding to a complaint after the exhibition, called Drawings Against Genocide, prompted an outcry from Jewish campaign groups and politicians who said the artwork was “grotesque” and “not just sickening, but dangerous”.

In a letter to the complainant, the force said: “The artwork is critical of the Israeli state and its actions but does not include content that is directly abusive or insulting toward Jewish people as a group.

“There is also no indication of an intent by the artist to stir up racial or religious hatred, which is a specific requirement within the legislation.”

The Drawings Against Genocide exhibition at an independent gallery in Margate, Kent, featured hundreds of crudely drawn pictures that critics claimed contained antisemitic tropes.

One of the drawings on display at the Joseph Wales Studios depicted two auctioneers at Sotheby’s – which is owned by Patrick Drahi, a French-Israeli businessman – eating babies, with blood dripping from their sharpened teeth.

It was the work of Matthew Collings, 70, formerly one of the country’s leading art critics, who said the art was “about raising consciousness about hell” and that “Israel is the pure encapsulation of it” through its actions in Gaza.

A sign directing to the drawings said: “Antisemitic art exhibition this way”.

Collings denied that it showed Jewish people, saying “nothing in the drawing says ‘Jews’ or claims Jews eat babies”. He said it “makes a comment that the owner of Sotheby’s is a Zionist” and “the message is that Zionism is a brutal ideology”.

Labour-led Thanet council apologised for promoting the event on its tourism website after being accused of supporting the exhibition. …

The police said it also did not meet the threshold for recording as a non-crime hate incident (NCHI), an incident that falls short of being criminal but is perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards a person with a particular characteristic.

“This is because the content is political in nature, focuses on a nation state rather than a protected group, and is part of artistic expression, which is afforded protection under freedom of expression laws,” the police said.

“There is no information to suggest hostility toward Jewish people as a group, nor any indication of risk of harm. I understand that this outcome may be disappointing, especially given the impact that viewing the images had on you. Please be assured that your concerns were taken seriously, and the decision was made only after a thorough assessment of all available information.”

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, urged Kent Police to rethink its decision, which was disclosed just hours before an antisemitic arson attack on four ambulances outside a London mosque.

Worth reading in full.

Perhaps we should be glad the police are finally refraining from branding everything controversial a hate crime or non-crime hate incident. But after all the NCHIs slapped on gender critical campaigners and other conservatives, it’s galling that something so obviously offensive to Jews that taps into ancient antisemitic tropes is given a free pass. Still, one to keep in the back pocket and remind the police about next time they try to lock up Graham Linehan.