"Over 97,000 people have submitted complaints to the United Kingdom's Independent Press Standards Organisation after right-wing news outlets published back-to-back articles characterizing British arts trustee Misan Harriman's recent social media posts as antisemitic. Alongside the complaints, Tracey Emin, Greta Thunberg, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Doig, and Aimee Lou Wood were among the 245 original signatories of an open letter in support of the photographer and human rights activist as articles amplified calls for his removal from the board of the Southbank Centre in London."
"Harriman has rejected the characterizations of his social media posts as antisemitic. "I've organized for Black Lives Matter, championed women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, transgender protections, and for the Ukrainians during the war, and no one has had a problem until I started speaking out against Israel's genocide in Palestine," he said to Hyperallergic."
""Truth itself is on the line; just because these right-wing and frankly racist newspapers scream the loudest, it does not mean it is the truth," Harriman told Hyperallergic. "To have by far the most complaints in British newspaper history means the people have had enough.""
"Harriman was appointed board chair of London's Southbank Centre, the UK's largest visual and performing arts venue, in 2021. As a self-taught photographer, he quickly gained editorial and art-world acclaim for his protest images of the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement and became the first Black man to shoot a British Vogue cover for the September issue that year."
Over 97,000 people submitted complaints to the UK Independent Press Standards Organisation after right-wing outlets published back-to-back articles describing Southbank Centre board chair Misan Harriman’s social media posts as antisemitic. An open letter supporting Harriman gathered 245 original signatories, including Tracey Emin, Greta Thunberg, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Doig, and Aimee Lou Wood, and called for his removal to be rejected. Harriman denied the accusations, citing his activism for Black Lives Matter, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, transgender protections, and support for Ukrainians during the war. He said criticism began after he spoke against Israel’s genocide in Palestine. He argued that loud right-wing claims do not establish truth and pointed to the unusually high number of complaints as evidence of public dissatisfaction.
Read at Hyperallergic
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