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After a relatively calm protest last week, members of the “Strike MoMA” campaign returned to the Museum of Modern Art this Friday, May 14, for an impassioned gathering marked by a tense encounter with law enforcement. Drawing a record number of over 300 attendees, the protest centered the human rights of Palestinians and culminated in the arrest of one protester, who was tackled by police. Five members of the International Imagination of Anti-National Anti-Imperialist Feelings, a coalition of activist organizations that have been staging weekly protests against the museum since April 9th, have been permanently banned from MoMA. 

Under the slogan of “All Eyes on Palestine,” protesters waved Palestinian flags at Urban Plaza across from MoMA on West 53rd Street and hosted teach-ins about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Speakers also highlighted the investments of MoMA trustees like Larry Fink and Leon Black in companies that supply weapons and equipment to the Israeli military. Fink’s company BlackRock is invested in Lockheed Martin, which has been supplying the Israeli army with weapons since 1971, including F-35 fighter jets. Both BlackRock and Apollo Global Management, Black’s private equity company, have investments in General Electric, which supplies the Israel army with a whole host of military equipment.

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><figcaption>The protest, titled “All Eyes on Palestine,” drew a crowd of over 300 people (photo by Hrag Vartanian/Hyperallergic)</figcaption></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><figcaption>The protesters rallied for the human rights of Palestinians (photo by Hakim Bishara/Hyperallergic)</figcaption></figure>

“The wealth of these [trustees] was built on the oppression of Palestinians,” one speaker said. The crowds chanted slogans like “Free Palestine,” “Resistance is Justified When People Are Occupied,” and “There’s Only One Solution, Intifada Revolution.”

Before the action began, one of the activists was informed by MoMA security guards that she had been permanently banned from the museum following the events of a “Strike MoMA” protest on April 30, which culminated in a standoff between the two parties. The artist-activist, a former educator at the museum, says they were assaulted by a security officer while attempting to protest inside the museum. The museum instead says that three of its security officers were injured when a group of five protesters, including the former educator, attempted to breach the museum via its staff entrance at 11 West 53rd Street. In an email to staff on May 3, MoMA director Glenn Lowry repeated these allegations, describing the protest as a “harrowing day at the Museum.” The activists denied the museum’s accusations, calling Lowry MoMA’s “Gaslighter-in-Chief.”

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><figcaption>A protester raising a Palestinian flag in front of MoMA (photo by Hrag Vartanian/Hyperallergic)</figcaption></figure>

In an email to Hyperallergic, a spokesperson for MoMA said the former educator, along with four other protesters, are “are no longer welcome at the Museum.”

“While MoMA respects the rights of all to make their voices heard, we have a zero-tolerance policy for individuals who endanger staff, visitors, artwork, or any Museum property,” the spokesperson said, adding that the protesters “repeatedly harassed and assaulted security officers there, in direct violation of our visitor code of conduct.”

The museum has previously refused to provide any evidence of the alleged assault of security guards by the protesters.

One of the banned activists, a young woman of color who works at a nonprofit and requested her identity remain anonymous, told Hyperallergic in response: “I won’t miss a place that never welcomed me in the first place.”

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