Right wing authoritarianism isn’t subtle.
edit:
added context:
Here is what Ben is replying to:
Pro-Palestinian protesters a part of a group called “𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧,” vandalized a historic painting of Arthur James Balfour at Trinity College Cambridge in England.
Arthur Balfour wrote the Balfour Declaration of 1917 when he was serving as the British Foreign Minister. The letter expressed Britain’s support for a Jewish Homeland in what is now Israel.
Direct link(should work for a bit): https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1766117900644151296/vid/avc1/720x1280/pQDXaeuPY2vYbJdX.mp4?tag=14
Tired of writing this, the hand wringing over university property being compared to ~30k lives and ~600k starving people has to stop.
This painting is not some culturally important piece of art. It’s a little over 100 years old (literally painted the same year my Granddad was born), hanging in a university, of a man that was responsible for massacres in Ireland (Mitchelstown Massacre) which got him the name “Bloody Balfour”, openly said that black people should be treated worse than white people, and was a known anti-semite that brought about the Aliens Act of 1905 to try and keep Jewish people out of Britain & Ireland.
Imagine a group of Princeton students cutting up a minor painting of Jefferson Davies hanging in their halls and you get roughly the same amount of “cultural loss”.
It seems to be more about the entitlement of the people representing the movement than about the art itself from what I’m seeing.
There’s clearly a major issue that needs attention, destroying a painting that’s kinda sorta related does nothing but make you look stupid and distract from the actual issues at hand as we’re seeing here. We’re talking about a painting and not about the failing hostage negotiations or the aid that desperately needs to flow…
This vandal should absolutely face criminal repercussions for this though imo. Doesn’t matter what side of the issue you’re on, what this person did was illegal and there needs to be consequences for breaking the laws of the land.
I never thought I’d say this, but I’m with Ben on this one. That was an artwork painted long before any living person was born, and should be still around long after any of us die.
Destroying history in the name of a cause should never be acceptable.
Ok let’s extend your logic to its maxima - so what you’re saying is that if you had to choose between destroying all paintings in the world or everyone dying - you’d choose everyone to die and save the paintings?
Most sane centrist ever…
I’d reserve that for those who live in maximal terms. They’re worth less than the paintings 😘
What’s the context behind this?
Can’t find any evidence that this is even a real tweet. These “text on image” posts should always be vetted with an actual link.
Added context.
With direct link to video.
Thanks!
Gotta say destroying art, especially historic, is a pretty shitty thing to do. It’s literally irreplaceable.
Edit: Oh, I should add that I still can’t see the posts on twitter itself. Not sure what their settings are like for non-users these days though, but it looks like it should be there. None of the posts I can see have that format either, with the “breaking news” heading and red light emoticon.
Looking at it from the protestors view:
Protesting the genocide happening: 30,000+ dead
Are Palestinians replaceable as well…
Property over human life, every time.
Okay, but what actual reason is there to weigh the two against each other. Destroying art has no actual benefit towards effecting change in Gaza.
I think the protestors wanted backlash and social media coverage.
Again to highlight the genocide in Palestine.
I was able to find this:
Palestine Action vows to continue their direct campaign until Elbit is shut down and British complicity with the colonisation of Palestine ends.
These protests have actually made me less sympathetic to Palestine, not more so. Destroying property, in particular irreplaceable artwork, is not something I can accept under any circumstances.
North Korea is left-wing authoritarianism though…
