Newton library photo display featuring Palestinians draws criticism

A new exhibit at Newton’s public library — which the mayor called “hurtful and divisive” — is causing a stir in the Boston suburb, which has a prominent Jewish population.

“The Ongoing & Relentless Nakba: The Palestinian Catastrophe of 1948 to Today” is a series of photographs taken by Skip Schiel in 2018 and 2019. Schiel said his work has covered the Israel-Palestine conflict for more than two decades. 

The exhibit, which will be in the Newton Free Library until May 30, features photos from his travels to Israel and Palestine, where he captured and learned the stories of people he called “the survivors of Nakba.” 

Nakba and the exhibit

Nakba, which translates to “catastrophe” in Arabic, refers to the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians in 1948 during the Arab-Israeli war, which permanently displaced more than half of all Palestinians after Israel launched an offensive attack, according to the United Nations.

The UN has also said that the conflict intensified in the years leading up to the war because of an increase in Jewish migration to the region, prompted by the persecution of Jewish people in Europe.

“75 years later, despite countless UN resolutions, the rights of the Palestinians continue to be denied,” the United Nations says. “Today, Palestinians continue to be dispossessed and displaced by Israeli settlements, evictions, land confiscation and home demolitions.”

Schiel said after he took photos of and interviewed “survivors” who lived through the Nakba and sometimes their descendants, he would cross the Green Line to find their former homes. The photos paired together make up his exhibit. 

“Media attention on the general region has been so concentrated on Israeli points of view, and we’re seeing that with Gaza now, that from the beginning of my 21-year efforts, I have tried not to present a balance in my shows, but to rebalance,” Schiel said.

Schiel applied for the exhibit at the library in April of 2023 and was accepted in July, which was months before the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7.

Newton mayor says exhibit is concerning

Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said in a statement that she had “deep concerns” about the exhibit. She said just the title itself could be considered “one-sided,” “offensive,” “wrong,” and “reprehensible.”

But, per the Library Bill of Rights and freedom of speech, Fuller said she supports the exhibit.

“I applaud the efforts by the Newton Free Library to be a role model for how a community library can help residents learn about deeply painful and contentious topics,” Fuller wrote. “Rather than canceling or postponing this art show, the Library is helping us learn, engage, think critically and converse civilly.”

Reception and accompanying exhibit “Postcards”

Newton Free Library Director Jill Mercurio said in a statement that the exhibit doesn’t represent the views of the library. She also wrote that an exhibit entitled “Postcards” — colorful drawings produced by artist Zeev Engelmayer from Tel Aviv since Oct. 7 — will be on display in another gallery.

“Now more than ever, the Library is committed to helping visitors learn more about nuanced, complicated, and controversial topics,” Mercurio wrote.

The library also shared a resource list centered on understanding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“In these postcards, although the subject matter is heart-wrenching—children being held hostage or returning home to their parents, civilians with their arms raised at gunpoint—I find this activity soothing,” Engelmayer said in a statement on the library’s website. “It’s thinking about it and being in the situation, but in some other way than watching the news all day.”

Schiel said he first learned of “Postcards” last week.

“It’s fine because there certainly is a very strong counterview to the view that I present,” he said about the other exhibit

The reception for “The Ongoing & Relentless Nakba” will be on Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. There is no reception for “Postcards.”

Counter-protesters and support for the library exhibit

Lawyer Douglas Hauer, a Newton resident who describes himself as an American Israeli, said he anticipates around 50 to 75 people will protest the reception on Thursday evening. He said the “civilized” protesters will silently hold pro-Israel signs outside the library.

“We all appreciate and recognize that Mr. Shiel has the First Amendment right to speak his mind and to convey his political viewpoints, but we certainly have a First Amendment right as well to correct asymmetrical inaccuracies in his narratives,” Hauer said.

Hauer said that the exhibit is insensitive in its timing, that its narrative is inaccurate, and that it feels targeted at Newton’s significant Jewish and Israeli populations. He likened the exhibit’s location in Newton to the Skokie Affair.

“Mr. Shiel is fully aware that many Jews and many Israelis live in Newton. He is interested in as much provocation as possible,” Hauer said. “There is a very strong interest in causing a crisis and in hurting people.”

Hauer, a Zionist, also said that the exhibit itself leaves out the plight of Jewish people who had no where else to go. He said his in-laws were refugees from Europe.

“The creation of the State of Israel is not about Jewish emigration to Palestine,” he said. “It’s about forced rescue, urgent rescue of Jews in a historical crisis.”

Schiel told Boston.com that he chose the Newton Free Library for “its beautiful exhibit space” and for its high visibility. He said the exhibit would “gain a lot of attention.”

Schiel said he also works closely with Jewish Voice for Peace Boston, which shared the reception information.

“They’re really spearheading the effort to help prepare, so no, I’m not alone,” he said. “If I were, of course, this would be total misery.”