Freedom For Humanity / Mear One

Freedom of Expression / Mear One (2012)

On 2 October 2012 the artist Mear One / Kalen Ockerman posted “Tomorrow they want to buff my mural Freedom of Expression. London Calling. Public art”. Jeremy Corbyn responded to the artist on Facebook at the time: “Why? You are in good company. Rockerfeller [Rockefeller] destroyed Diego Viera’s [Rivera’s] mural because it includes a picture of Lenin”. (referring to Nelson Rockefeller’s destruction of Diego Rivera’s mural Man at the Crossroads (1934)” [Tuesday 2 October 2012 at 10:51]

Is this antisemitic? Jeremy Corbyn asked why the mural was to be buffed. And he gave an example of a more famous anti-capitalist mural covered up and replaced in the 1930s.

Nowhere is it suggested Jeremy Corbyn saw the actual Freedom of Expression mural in-situ at 45 Hanbury Street, Spitalfields, London E1 5JP.  And Jeremy Corbyn  at no point criticized the painting-over of the mural demanded by Lutfur Rahman (who you will recall was removed as Mayor of Tower Hamlets,  debarred from standing for elected office, and found guilty in court of intimidation, vote-rigging and wrongly smearing his Labour rival John Biggs as a racist, and had a sacred crane, painted for the local Bengali community, covered up).

It is interesting that almost all of those who accuse Jeremy Corbyn do not quote his words. And that it took them six years to be offended. No one at the time was offended by his comment.  Manifest Energy And Radiate…

If someone genuinely believes that a person has been antisemitic and is inciting racial hatred, they must report it to the police.  It will be taken very seriously indeed. But be  aware of the offence of wasting police time under Section 5(2) of the Criminal Law Act 1967, whereby if you knowingly make a false allegation you can be charged with the offence of wasting police time which renders you liable to a maximum penalty of six months’ imprisonment and/or a fine.  You will notice that those making allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party very rarely go to the police. Or the courts.

 

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“Closing down of debate

What lies behind this mobilisation of symbolic violence and closing down of debate is very resonant of what the French philosopher Michel Foucault called ‘regimes of truth’. When the controversy over Mear One’s mural in London’s East End first surfaced in the news in 2012 — long before Jeremy Corbyn became leader of the Labour party — the debate about whether or not it could be construed as anti-semitic, and whether or not censorship was an appropriate action for the authorities to take, was a relatively open one. Respected publications such as the English-language Israel daily Haaretz, and even the Daily Mail were far from unequivocal in their coverage, acknowledging the contesting views of both local residents and others. Some, like the International Business Times even ran comment pieces by those who did not believe the mural was anti-semitic. This was the context in which Corbyn made a comment on Facebook — not in any way defending or endorsing the mural as has widely been reported — but simply questioning whether censorship was the right thing to do. In the end, the decision taken by local authorities was not based on a conviction that the mural was anti-semitic, but rather that it might be, or at least the perception of some Jews that it was anti-semitic was considered sufficient justification for it to be forcibly removed.”  — Justin Schlosberg  (Jewish Voice for Labour, 30 April 2018)

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It is not anti-Semitic

I am a Jew, and I have experienced the sharp end of real anti-Semitism first hand. I know the genuine article when I see it, and I also know a false alarm about anti-Semitism when I see it too. So you can stuff it if you are non-Jewish and you try to tell me which is which. The mural is not anti-Semitic, and this is why.

The rich men portrayed in the mural sitting around the Monopoly gameboard include the Rothschilds, the Rockefellers, the Warburgs and the Morgans. The Rothschilds and the Warburgs are indeed Jews. But the others are not. They are portrayed in exactly the same light as the Warburgs and the Rothschilds, but this is not because of their ethnicity, but because they are all banking magnates. Their portrayal is not anti-Semitic, it is anti-plutocratic.

 

The pyramid in the background is often assumed to embody the legendary ‘Illuminati’, which is often thought to be an undercover world-controlling movement dominated by Jews. But again, this is not correct. The pyramid actually symbolises Freemasonry, and the widely-held (and possibly correct) suspicion that Freemasons often give each other un-earned ‘foot-ups’ up the hierarchy.

Freemasonry is not a Jewish movement.

How do I know that all of this applies to the mural? The explanation for that is shockingly simple; unlike the majority of pompous outraged attack dogs snapping at Corbyn’s heels, I bothered to read up on the history of the mural before passing judgement on it. One of the details I checked was what the artist had to say about it. Sure enough, Ockerman responded to the accusations of anti-Semitism back in 2012, and explained all of the above.

You might argue, “Why should we believe what Ockerman says?” but if you think about it, that really is a stupid question; if Ockerman had intended to stir up anti-Semitic paranoia by painting the mural in the first place, surely he would be defeating the object of his own exercise by then denying that the rich men in the picture are Jewish? (And be careful – if you see a picture of rich men with large noses and your immediate assumption is “Jews!!!!” that may say more about your own prejudices than it says about the artist’s.)”   —  Martin Odoni  (26 March 2018)

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“The knife of choice for the Labour backstabbers this time is a mural

After a short reprieve following Jeremy Corbyn’s unexpected success in Britain’s general election last year, when he only narrowly lost the popular vote, most of the Labour parliamentary party are back, determined to bring him down. And once again, they are being joined by the corporate media in full battle cry. Last week, Corbyn was a Soviet spy. This week we’re in more familiar territory, even if it has a new twist: Corbyn is not only a friend to anti-semites, it seems, but now he has been outed as a closet one himself. In short, the Blairites in the parliamentary party are stepping up their game. Corbyn’s social justice agenda, his repudiation of neoconservative wars of aggression masquerading as “humanitarianism” – lining the coffers of the west’s military-industrial elites – is a genuine threat to those who run our societies from the shadows. The knife of choice for the Labour backstabbers this time is a wall mural removed from East London in 2012.”    —   Jonathan Cook   ()

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Luciana Berger triggered last month’s ridiculous clamour about a mural that does not even exist anymore, just as Labour’s Local Election campaign was getting underway. It was so blatant what she was doing, it astounds me how few people have picked up on it. She put up a tweet with a screenshot of Jeremy Corbyn questioning on social media way back in 2012 the removal of the Brick Lane Mural, and claimed that she had demanded an explanation from the Leader’s office earlier that day. Not long after, she put up another tweet complaining that the response of the ‘spokesperson’ from the Leader’s office was not good enough. She did not state what the response was, or what was wrong with it. What is clear is that she had not offered much time for a response.

Why did Berger feel the need to announce this on social media? Why did she not make a full attempt to discuss it with Corbyn in private first? Why did she not at least give Corbyn time to look into it and refresh his memory? Why did she feel that this was important at all, given six years had passed since the mural had been painted over? Why did she feel it was important, given that, despite the clamour, the mural was not anti-Semitic in its content? Why did she have to announce it then, and not three years earlier when the matter had previously been raised in the media? Why did she have to choose a moment that was sure to de-rail a Local Election campaign?

The answer to all of these questions is the same, and it is obvious. She and her right-wing colleagues are trying to get rid of Corbyn any way they can, and they find the nearest they have to an effective weapon against him is supposed ‘anti-Semitism’ among his supporters. And as the Angry Yorkshireman points out, the Blairites and their allies had little choice but to side with the left during the General Election a year ago, because their own seats in the House of Commons were at stake. But they are perfectly happy to sacrifice local councillors and the hard work of grass-roots activists up and down the UK, in order to create a Local Elections disaster, for which Corbyn can then take the blame.”  —  Martin Odoni (28 April 2018)

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Understanding the Conspiracy of MuralGate

“In January 2017 Al Jazeera released The Lobby which was explosive enough to be splashed on the front pages of the mainstream press. In the third episode, for example, Joan Ryan MP was seen reporting a delegate for antisemitism because she had used an antisemitic trope in suggesting that the LFI had money, prestige, and influence, and more explosively, in the fourth episode, Shai Masot, an embassy worker who had been involved in forming grass-roots pro-Israeli youth organisations, was caught by the under-cover reporter naming Sir Alan Duncan as an MP he would like to “take down.” When the documentary was released, a formal apology was submitted by the Embassy, and Masot left the country.”  —  Chris Friel (7 June 2018)

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“An artist paints a work depicting what he sees as the truth of underlying events that are bringing about mass inequality, death and destruction.  According to some, it is hugely offensive, should never have been seen in public and the artist responsible should be imprisoned. As always, politicians get involved and when it is seen in public, the artist receives a threat to his life.  The decent thing to do would be to ban the work, hide it away or maybe paint over it to avoid offending sensitivities.  Congratulations, you’ve just denied the world being able to see Picasso’s ‘Guernica‘.”   —  Geoff Whitehouse  (8 October 2012

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“Though there are strange iconographic images like the pyramid and stars, that doesn’t mean I believe the system is Egyptian, *****anymore than I believe there is some Jewish conspiracy creating and controlling our money either*****. So to conflate my anti-capitalist message with anti-semitic rhetoric, as the UK politicians and their msm puppets have so adeptly accomplished, is very ill-intended and manipulative.”   —   Mear One

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Four Christian figures, two Jewish: “Rothschild, Rockefeller, Morgan, Aleister Crowley, Carnegie & Warburg“.


Baron David René James de Rothschild (Jewish, German American)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ren%C3%A9_de_Rothschild
“In 2015 David de Rothschild was indicted in Spain for fraud in relation to a scheme that defrauded British retirees who signed up for an inheritance tax minimisation scheme.”

John D. Rockefeller (Christian, Baptist, English American)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Rockefeller
“John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American oil industry business magnate, industrialist, and philanthropist. He is widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history.”

J. P. Morgan (Christian, Episcopal/Anglican, Welsh American)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._P._Morgan_Jr.
“Morgan played a prominent part in financing World War I. Following its outbreak, he made the first loan of $12,000,000 to Russia. In 1915, a loan of $500,000,000 was made to France and Britain…”

Aleister Crowley (Christian, Plymouth Brethren, English, antisemitic, started Thelema religion)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley…
“Aleister Crowley was an anti-Jewish bigot and racist.”

Andrew Carnegie (Christian, Presbyterian, Scottish American) [not Henry Ford]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Carnegie
“Andrew Carnegie (November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist, business magnate, and philanthropist, anti-union and famous for strike-breaking and hiring violent Pinkerton agents to attack his workers.”

Max Warburg (Jewish, German)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Warburg
“Beginning in 1933, Max Warburg served on the board of the Nazi Reichsbank, reporting directly to Hjalmar Schacht, before emigrating in 1938. Before World War II, Max Warburg served on the board of directors of Interessen Gemeinschaft Farben or I.G. Farben, the giant German chemical firm that produced Zyklon B gas, later used in Nazi internment camps.”

“In an interview Mear One said that the images of the bankers were inspired by the Rothschild’s, Rockefeller’s and Morgan’s. The Rothschilds! There we have it, that’s the anti-Semitic part. The Rothschild’s are a major Jewish banking family. But then I thought about the other two. The Rockefellers and the Morgans are both Christian families. Mear One was inspired by one Jewish banking family, and two Christian ones?”

So the mural is anti-Christian, anti-American, anti-antisemitic and antisemitic? Such a view is deeply offensive and ignorant. The mural is anti-capitalist. Some say it is the faces with large noses that make it antisemitic. Which makes those critics overtly racist and antisemitic, yes? Does that explain why many sources say the mural was in Brick Lane, a better trope for those intending to incite racial hatred than where it was in reality, 45 Hanbury Street?

Tower Hamlets has ordered that the mural be removed as the characters depicted as bankers have faces that look Jewish, and is therefore antisemitic.” 

“Oscar Wilde, when attacked in a similar ad hominem way, insisted that it is senseless to speak of morality when discussing art, asserting that the hypocritical, prudish and philistine English public, when unable to find the art in a work of art, instead looked for the man in it.”

Original pencil sketch…

 

While the BBC was filming, a Zionist vandal in a business suit holding a white spray paint can came by and defaced the mural with the taunt Haganah. Haganah (הַהֲגָנָה) was a Zionist terrorist organization in the British Mandate of Palestine. “So the artwork is likely to attract more attention until Monday when it gets painted over, not because of the ban though, but because a new artist is due to fill this space.”  —  Alice Bhandhukravi (BBC London News October 2012)

 

The vicious Zionist graffiti, which was clearly inciting racial hatred and terrorism, rather than the mural itself,
had to be covered up, covering a part of the mural before it was replaced as originally planned.

 

 

The mural by Duong Tran at 45 Hanbury Street later in October 2012.

 

The mural Hybrid Elephant-Octopus by Puerto Rican artist Alexis Diaz (La Pandilla) at 45 Hanbury Street in July 2013.
(To the right of the mural you can see Belgian painter Roa’s giant crane.)

 


The mural by Australian Rone (Tyrone Wright) at 45 Hanbury Street in May 2014.

 

The mural An Angel For Ruby by Eelus at 45 Hanbury Street in August 2014.
“Bristol based artist @Eelus first wall in 4 year’s, and it’s in Shoreditch thanks to @31thirteenart and @FifthWallTV.”
(Argentinian painter Martin Ron’s hand standing man wearing a bearskin cap is on the right.)

 

The mural Address Labels Of The United States Postal Service by the Australian artist Edwin at 45 Hanbury Street in November 2014.

 

The mural by Italian artist Pixel Pancho and Miami artist  Evoca1 at 45 Hanbury Street in May 2015.

 

The mural by Puerto Rican artist Alexis Diaz (La Pandilla) and the Argentinian artist  Elian Chali at 45 Hanbury Street in July 2015.

The mural by Neist & Asebueno at 45 Hanbury Street in February 2016.

 

The mural at 45 Hanbury Street in April 2016.

 

The mural at 45 Hanbury Street in August 2016.

 

The mural at 45 Hanbury Street in September 2016.

 

The mural Art For The Masses by Chicago’s Don’t Fret at 45 Hanbury Street in March 2017.

 

The mural by the São Paulo artist Alex Senna at 45 Hanbury Street in April 2017.

 

The mural of a gorilla with a butterfly by TraficGraphics at 45 Hanbury Street in November 2017.

 


The mural Guardian Angel by Ben Jay Crossman at 45 Hanbury Street in September 2018.
“South African artist Ben Jay Crossman painted a sumo wrestler at the centre of a cosmic scene
acting as the guardian angel, protecting not just this street, but the universe as a whole.”

 

The wall has been an ever-changing mural for some time.
The Angry Extremists by Ben Slow was the mural Mear One replaced for 3 1/2 weeks in 2012.

 

The mural by Bom.K of Da Mental Vaporz and Liliwenn at 45 Hanbury Street earlier in September 2012 .

 


The mural by Cosmo Sarson at 45 Hanbury Street even earlier, in 2011.

 

The mural Mother & Child by Ben Slow and Ma o Shishu at 45 Hanbury Street even earlier still, in 2010.
The wall was taller at this time, this mural lost some of its top part…

 

Let us know if you find more

There have been many spoofs of the mural, this one was was found on anti-Labour activist Luciana Berger’s Twitter page.
“May and her Russian oligarchs, Blair and his Blairites, oh yes May with the Saudis, Trump with his money grubbers etc…”

Jeremy Corbyn, Donald Trump, Theresa May, Vladimir Putin (Влади́мир Пу́тин), Kim Jong-un ( 김정은),
Bashar al-Assad (بشار الأسد‎), Max Warburg (surviving from the original mural) & Ricky Gervais.

Print
False profits (2016)
Purchase this paper print
10-Color Serigraph on Hand-Deckled 290gsm Coventry Rag Paper
20 x 27 inches

False Profits (2017)
Purchase the giclée print! 

18 x 24 inches giclée print on Moab Entrada 290 gsm archival ink paper.
Signed & numbered by MEAR ONE.
Each print comes with a signed artist rendition designer Certificate of Authenticity.
Edition of 200.
Albert Pike, Mayer Carl Freiherr Von Rothschild, Adam Weishaupt, Mayer Amschel De Rothschild
David Rockefeller, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Evelyn Rothschild, Jacob Rothschild, George Soros, Nicky Oppenheimer

 

 

Antisemitic Imagery and Caricatures is an excellent source, but sadly it displays its own racist bias on some topics. When it is good it is very good. When it is ignorant it is unfortunate, but use it with care and it is helpful, if fatally flawed. If you keep in mind the compilers can be blinded by their own racism, it is transparent where it is nastily wrong. The mural is the best example.