Arts festival embroiled in row over Palestinian speaker

An arts festival has defended its decision to invite a Palestinian comic artist who has been accused of creating antisemitic works as a key speaker.

This year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival (LICAF), taking place in the Cumbrian town of Bowness-on-Windermere from 27 to 29 September, will host an exhibition featuring 12 Palestinian artists entitled Comics From The Arab World.

It will feature Palestinian political cartoonist Mohammad Sabaaneh, who will also attend the festival as a key speaker, after being awarded Sweden’s EWK Award for his work earlier this year. Some of Sabaaneh’s former works have been criticised for the use of antisemitic imagery and tropes, although none of the art in question is set to be displayed at the festival.

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The British Council and Arts Council England (ACE), which both fund the festival, say they have investigated Sabaaneh’s inclusion after a complaint was raised by former LICAF board member Peter Kessler.

The British Council co-organises and contributes £15,000 towards the festival. A statement from the council, shared with news and opinion website Unherd, says its funding is going toward the exhibition of 12 Palestinian comic artists.

“We are aware of concerns that have been raised regarding a selection of political cartoons previously produced by one of the curators,” the statement said.

“These cartoons do not form part of the exhibition at LICAF, which aims to highlight the unique creativity of Palestinian comic art.”

As a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO), Lakes Arts Festivals Ltd currently receives £238,306 annually from ACE.

A statement from the funder said that “is not a regulator”, but has “a comprehensive process in place if concerns are raised with us about an organisation we fund, and we can look into whether they are in breach of their funding agreement with us”.

According to Unherd’s reporting, the funder told Kessler it found “minor breaches of the terms and conditions of their current funding agreement with us, relating to the organisation’s complaints handling policy, and we are now satisfied with the actions proposed by LICAF to address these issues”.

Earlier this year, ACE released, then revised, updates to its reputational risk guidance for NPOs. It later emerged the update followed a meeting between ACE and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport that included an agenda item on ‘reputational risk relating to Israel-Gaza conflict’.

Board member resigns

Following confirmation of Sabaaneh’s inclusion in the festival, Kessler called for him to be questioned about his previous controversial work during one of two live sessions the cartoonist is scheduled to take part in.

Kessler, who says he did not oppose Sabaaneh’s inclusion in the festival, then quit the board after his colleagues did not agree Sabaaneh should be questioned and claims he was marginalised during the decision making process.

Board Chair Julie Tait told The Telegraph the proposal was rejected under “safeguarding and equalities policies”. She also said Kellser resigned “due to irreconcilable differences” and denied he was marginalised.

“We are fully aware of Mohammad Sabaaneh’s past work, and our decision to include him in the festival was made after careful consideration,” Tait said.

“Mohammad’s role at the festival is as an artistic ambassador, celebrating Palestinian comic art. The specific works chosen for this exhibition do not feature anti-Semitic imagery.”