Jewish donors are pulling and redirecting their funds as they ‘despair’ at rise of anti-Semitism
A quiet revolt against ‘bullying’ and anti-Semitic rhetoric – used by some pro-Palestinian activists including publicly subsidised artists – has seen Jewish donors withdraw or redirect their funding deals with environmental, women’s or arts groups.
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Jewish philanthropists are in “despair” as they push back against the anti-Semitism that has exploded in the wake of the Israel-Gaza conflict and created an environment for prominent donors and Jewish artists that has been described as “toxic”, “destructive” and full of “vitriol’’.
A quiet revolt against “bullying” and anti-Semitic rhetoric – used by some pro-Palestinian activists including publicly subsidised artists – has seen Jewish donors withdraw or redirect their funding deals with environmental, women’s or arts groups.
Lillian Kline, head of philanthropy for the Victor Smorgon group, said the fallout from the Israel-Gaza war “has had a massive impact on, not just Jewish philanthropy, but philanthropy across the board in Australia’’ and left some Jewish donor families in “despair’’.
“For Jewish people it has led to absolutely a re-examination of strategic priorities of funding, and there were many conversations in the wake of October 7 to strategically fund both Jewish and non-Jewish organisations in the wake of rising anti-Semitism,’’ she said.
Ms Kline advises other influential families on their giving strategies, and said “so many (donor) families were blindsided by the rapid rise in anti-Semitism’’. She said those donor families were “impacted negatively by how organisations that many of us had long-term relationships with either did not reach out or made statements that were, what the foundations found, to be completely lacking in sympathy, empathy, or acknowledgment of the pain and suffering of the Jewish community’’.
The Weekend Australian can reveal one Jewish philanthropist recently withdrew her financial support for the Biennale of Sydney and the government-funded Artspace visual art centre in inner Sydney because of social media posts she considered anti-Semitic. She said that within the visual arts, “the vitriol is beyond imagining”, partly because of peer “bullying” if artists weren’t aligned with an anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian cause.
As a long-time visual arts donor, she said: “I am absolutely shocked and betrayed and disturbed by the lack of thought by so many artists who rely on private collectors to support them and purchase their work … A lot of people (other Jewish donors) feel the same way.’’
Ms Kline revealed that “as we got together with the big families, we realised it’s so much bigger than the Jewish community. No one took any issue with pro-Palestinian sentiment, it was when it veered into pro-terror and anti-Zionist sentiment that it upset Jewish benefactors.
“The word to describe it is despair amongst Jewish philanthropists and foundations with longstanding relationships with these organisations, at either the silence or, worse, the absolute hatred that’s come from these organisations that a number (of families) have had relationships with.’’
Like universities, the arts have become a flashpoint for tensions over the Israel-Gaza conflict and industry insiders say the tensions have often escalated into bigotry, bullying and racism.
The bullying extends to the top of the arts world. Gideon Obarzanek is one of the nation’s most respected arts leaders – a four-time Helpmann Award winner, he founded the Chunky Move dance company and is now co-artistic director of Victoria’s flagship arts festival, Rising.
Yet the Melbourne-born choreographer said he, too, had been targeted by social media activists, who had questioned whether he should have his Rising role because of his background – he spent part of his childhood in Israel.
“I’ve certainly seen a level of anti-Semitism play out,’’ Obarzanek said. “I’ve copped personal criticism because of my cultural background … It’s difficult to deal with and I would add that my colleagues and team have been incredibly supportive.’’
Stressing how he believes art will always be political, Obarzanek added: “I have not spoken about my position towards Israel, so that limited criticism (of Obarzanek) has been purely because of my background and a questioning of whether I should be in my position, given my background as a Jewish artist and Australian cultural leader. So it’s not in reference to my position towards Israel, it’s just purely who I am.’’
He also revealed that “we have seen Jewish families, donors, who have been targeted directly. We’ve seen the Besen Family Foundation (targeted by activists).’’
Family targeted
Founded in 1978 by the late retail magnates Marc and Eva Besen, the Besen Family Foundation has given millions of dollars to arts, education, health and environmental projects, and helped establish Melbourne’s International Arts Festival, the precursor to the Rising festival.
In April, Rising’s website was updated to say it was ‘‘no longer in receipt of funding from the Besen Family Foundation’’. This extraordinary statement was made after some artists pulled out of the festival, citing the Besens’ support of projects in Israel.
The festival confirmed it had lost one other donor, an individual who was offended by Gaza-related comments made by a Rising curator outside of her official role.
Obarzanek said the bullying he referred to involved artists commissioned by Rising or working elsewhere being pressured to “boycott or divest or not perform’’. He said: “We haven’t seen organised groups but we have seen individuals band together.’’
Social media activist and children’s book illustrator Matt Jones Chun, who was allegedly involved in the leaking of personal details of 600 Jewish creatives, has targeted the Besen family’s support for the arts in Australia, including their Rising donations.
Chun, who hailed Hamas as “freedom fighters” the day after their October 7 massacre of 1200 Israelis, claimed the Besens had conducted projects in Israel that contributed to the “ongoing colonisation and genocide” of Palestine. The family denies this.
On his Substack website, Chun has named several high-profile Jewish donor families and claimed their support for Australian artists amounted to propaganda for Israel, even though most arts organisations are left-leaning.
Drawing on anti-Semitic tropes, he said “these wealthy propagandists are toxic and ubiquitous, intimately entwined with each other, and deeply connected to the Zionist occupation entity and its leadership’’.
One Jewish lawyer who did not want to be identified, said the fact that Chun got away with such posts pointed to a failure to enforce racial vilification and harassment laws. The Australian has reported that Chun had received arts grants comprising tens of thousands of dollars since 2010.
The anonymous philanthropist said she withdrew her financial support for the Sydney Biennale after a foundation headed by the Biennale’s incoming artistic director, Hoor Al-Qasimi, posted on Instagram about “the devastating genocide being carried out on Gazans” two weeks after the Hamas attacks.
The Instagram post did not mention the October 7 massacre, condemning instead “the dehumanising depictions of Palestinians in mainstream media’’. The post said the foundation would continue to “foreground Palestinian communities’ and artists’ perspectives and experiences in the struggle against settler colonialism’’. The Weekend Australian asked the Biennale of Sydney and Chun to comment. They did not respond.
The arts patron terminated her support for Artspace after learning that several artists in its studio program had made “toxic” statements on social media related to their pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel stance. “Intimidation is at every level and I see no leadership (on this) at all in the arts world,’’ the philanthropist said, adding that in the current climate arts organisations needed to conduct due diligence on commissioned artists’ social media accounts, to check whether they had crossed a line into anti-Semitism.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza war since October 7, the Hamas-run health ministry has said. Israel’s military told the BBC recently that more than 15,000 terrorists had been killed in the conflict.
The arts patron said: “We all deplore and are devastated by the loss of life on both sides (of the conflict).’’ However, she said many pro-Palestinian activists refused to acknowledge that she and other Jews did not back the Netanyahu government and did support a two-state solution. She said when it came to Hamas, “there is an enormous naivete” on the part of activist artists in Australia.
‘I feel betrayed’
In October last year, Indigenous artist Archie Moore, who represented Australia at this year’s Venice Biennale, re-posted a pro-Hamas TikTok video that showed the terrorist group invading Israel and said they had “made history as they escaped the world’s largest open air prison”. He also shared a tweet that queried why Hamas members were described as terrorists. After this was exposed on Sky News, the re-shares were taken down, Moore made a conciliatory statement and went on to win a prestigious Golden Lion award at Venice.
The list of leading arts companies from which Jewish donors or board members have withdrawn in recent times is growing and includes the Melbourne and Adelaide writers’ festivals, Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company, the National Association for the Visual Arts and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art.
Lawyer Alana Kushnir resigned from the board of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in October after she was attacked for criticising individuals on her private social media account who were making or liking posts in support of the October 7 attacks. She said the arts body declined to support her.
Confronted with similar comments – and claims Israel is an apartheid state engaging in “genocide” against the Palestinians – some Jewish art collectors were returning local artworks to galleries, she said. Other collectors were refusing to buy work from artists they previously supported or were putting up works for auction.
“It’s not just the big, seasoned donors who are holding back, it’s also the little ones, the younger generations,’’ she said.
In her legal role, Kushnir advocates for the rights of her clients, including well-known artists and galleries, and since she stepped down from the ACCA board, she had felt betrayed. “I have spent so many years going over and above in supporting my clients and the broader industry, many on a pro bono or low bono basis, I feel quite betrayed,’’ she said.
She said some of her former clients no longer wanted their names to appear on her business website.
The lawyer said: “Freedom of expression is important. But I don’t think artists should be treated as having more of a right to freedom of expression than anyone else, including myself.’’ She said many artists seemed to think they could vilify whoever they liked on social media.
In a further withdrawal of Jewish financial backing for the arts, prominent Melbourne legal firm Arnold Bloch Leibler has ended its pro bono support – worth more than $1m – to Melbourne community arts centre Collingwood Yards. ABL acted after a banner was made at Collingwood Yards – which was partly established with Besen foundation funds – that said “Free Palestine from the colonising dumb white dogs!”
The banner, made just two weeks after October 7, also said: “Abolish Israel”.
Collingwood Yards made a statement condemning anti-Semitism but, according to ABL, “made no mention of the context in which the banner had been produced and promoted – namely the torture, murder and kidnapping of Israeli Jews, as though it had never happened’’.
The letter withdrawing ABL’s support said the firm was “deeply disappointed” with Collingwood Yards’ lack of “moral clarity”.
ABL also cancelled its support for the National Association of Visual Arts, after it published an open letter to the Prime Minister in which it claimed “the armed attacks on October 7 by Palestinian people cannot be de-contextualised from apartheid (and the) extreme oppression’’ of the Netanyahu government.
The letter, still on NAVA’s website, said responses to the attacks should include “an end to the settler colonial regime’’ and characterised the October 7 attacks as “the resistance of the oppressed”. It has been signed by more than 1000 people, including many artists.
ABL told NAVA it was “disgusted” by the letter, which was “laced with misinformation, bias, false moral equivalence and contextual justification for the deliberate brutality of Hamas terrorists’’.
‘Deeply disheartening’
For decades, Jewish philanthropists have been among the nation’s most generous donors, funding multi-million-dollar hospital, university and arts programs and buildings. Private donors contributed more than $100m to the Art Gallery of NSW’s new wing, Sydney Modern, and the largest donation – $24m – came from retired Jewish businessman, Isaac Wakil and his late wife, Susan.
Other significant donations came from Sir Frank Lowy and Steven Lowy, while the family of investment banker Simon Mordant gave $15m towards the redevelopment of Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art in 2012.
The Besens established Victoria’s TarraWarra Museum of Art, Australia’s first privately funded public museum, in 2000 and the family gave a further $6m to the regional gallery in 2022. In recent years, their foundation donated $15m to Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital.
The late Loti and Victor Smorgon were also among the nation’s top donors, and gave a then-record cash donation of $15m to the National Gallery of Victoria in 2008. The family’s foundation continues to fund arts, education and health projects.
Ms Kline said Jewish benefactors had also funded not-for-profit environmental, Indigenous and women’s rights groups. However, after October 7, some of these groups strayed from their core business into policy and politics, leading some Jewish supporters to question whether their funding commitment should continue.
Non-Jewish funders, Ms Kline said, had done the same. “There’s a re-prioritisation of Jewish funding to Jewish causes,” she added.
Obarzanek said that in Melbourne, the “intense criticism and lateral violence within the arts sector, where people have turned against one another, particularly in relation to Gaza and Israel’’, had led to few positive outcomes in the Middle East.
He said this hostility had “significantly eroded trust, particularly here in Melbourne. It’s been deeply disheartening.’’
However, the festival director said: “AIt is neither our (Rising’s) place nor our responsibility to police opinions in this discourse – freedom of expression must be respected.’’ He argued “the rise of social media has amplified the accountability of institutions and organisations, driven by a growing demand for transparency’’.
He also acknowledged that many pro-Palestinian activists were “very distressed and dismayed about what is going on in Gaza right now and I totally understand that … But I think in trying to make a difference, people have to be very careful not necessarily to accuse and abuse people that really have no material influence on what’s going on.
“I’ve certainly been witnessing that and I’ve been a part of that, and it is distressing.”
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