Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman claims to be an "unwavering" supporter of Israel, but the state's lieutenant governor runs a nonprofit that hosted an art exhibit that vilified the Jewish state.
According to The Washington Free Beacon, UnSmoke Systems Artspace, Fetterman's art gallery, held an exhibit in March 2012 called "I Am Palestine," which included an installation that represented a section of the 440-mile Israeli-built wall that separates Israel from the West Bank. It was built after a series of Palestinian suicide bombings killed approximately 700 Israelis.
In a statement announcing the installation, the artists said Israel put up the wall "under the guise of security while stealing more Palestinian land and resources."
According to the Free Beacon, the artists invited community members to write messages on the art installation wall to emulate the graffiti that is plastered on the West Bank structure. Video interviews that one of the artists conducted with Palestinians were also projected onto the art piece.
While Fetterman said he believes in "strengthening and enhancing the security of Israel," the art exhibit at his gallery and the endorsement of his campaign by anti-war group Peace Action, which has promoted boycotts of Israel and encouraged diplomatic relations with Iran, raises questions. His Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, told the Free Beacon that the endorsement confirms that he is "no friend of Israel."
Fetterman's camp defended the art exhibit and his position on Israel, saying the candidate "is and always has been a pro-Israel Democrat."
"He strongly believes that Israel has the right to defend itself and has pledged to always lean in and support Israel's security," campaign Communications Director Joe Calvello told the Free Beacon. "John is also proud to have helped turn an abandoned convent into a space that brings art and artists to Braddock, creating economic development."
The gallery, which is sustained by Fetterman's nonprofit Braddock Redux, also commissioned a mural called "Three Boys Living in the Shadow of the Separation Wall" in 2008 from the artist Swoon, a well-known anti-Israel activist.
Karina Goulordava, one of the "I Am Palestine" artists, was, at the time of the exhibit, serving as vice president of the University of Pittsburgh chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, according to the Free Beacon. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the group spreads "anti-Israel propaganda often laced with inflammatory and, at times, combative rhetoric."
Goulordava developed the art exhibit with Palestinian activist Fadi Kattan when they both worked at the International Solidarity Initiative, a Palestinian advocacy group, according to the Free Beacon.
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