Jews Shut Down Bookstore Exhibit

ATLANTA (AP) — An Atlanta bookstore has cut short an exhibit of photographs depicting Palestinian experiences after complaints from Jewish customers.

An organiser of the exhibit blamed the decision on the complaints, although the store manager said the floor space was needed for other purposes.

Elizabeth Barlow, a coordinator for an Israeli Christian group that brought the photos to Great Britain, the United States and Israel, said Thursday she was stunned by Borders Books and Music’s decision to end the 50-photograph exhibit, “The Palestinian Experience, 1948-1998: Dispossession, Diaspora and Occupation.” [The exhibit ran from Aug. 30 but was cut short by four days.]

“This is the first time this has happened,” Barlow said.

“If they went in with an open mind, they should see it’s giving a message that is important for people to understand if we’re going to have a peace that will last.

“The people of Israel are more accepting than the American-Jewish community in Atlanta, which I find surprising,” she said.

Ann Serrie, general manager of Borders in Buckhead, Georgia where the photos were displayed, said the store did not cave in to complaints but made a business decision on the need for floor space to display its calendars.

She called most comments about the exhibit “positive.” The exhibit includes pictures of Palestinian houses being demolished by Israelis, Arabs being evicted from their land and a Palestinian perspective of the intifada, a rebellion by Palestinians against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Ilise Cohen of the American Friends Service Committee’s Middle East Peace Education Programme, which has an office in Atlanta and was associated with the exhibit, said complaints led to the store’s decision.

“You had folks in the Jewish community — and I’m part of that community — because it was something they didn’t want to see, wanted it to come down,” Cohen said.

Kennesaw State University in suburban Cobb County was considering displaying the photos next spring as part of its “Year of Israel” celebration, but will have to reevaluate, said Thomas Keene, director of the school’s International Centre.

“We’re taking a look at it,” he said. “We’re not looking to have a big controversy, so it makes it more difficult to do it if it’s offensive to people, so probably not.”