Western crackdown on critics of Israel is worse than China’s repression, says Ai Weiwei

Celebrated Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei has warned of a worrying crackdown on free speech in the West over Israel and likened the silencing of critics of the apartheid state to suppression under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party.

Ai, who has been living in exile from China since 2015, said galleries in London and Paris cancelled four of his upcoming exhibits after he posted a tweet criticising US financial support for Israel in light of the violence against Palestinians in Gaza. He called the reaction “sensitive” and “crazy”.

In the West, Ai, a long-time supporter of the Palestinian cause, became a celebrated dissident because of his stance against the Communist Party in his homeland. However, the 66-year-old artists said that the latest attempt to silence him and cancel his shows because of his support for Palestine is reminiscent of the way that he was treated in China.

Asked about the experience last weekend on Sky’s “Sunday Morning”, a current affairs TV programme in Britain. Ai likened it to political censorship in China. “I grew up within this heavy political censorship,” the famed artist said referring to the cancellation of his shows. “I realise now, today in the West, you are doing exactly the same.”

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In the interview, Ai Weiwei warned of a “very worrying crackdown” on free speech in Western countries when it comes to criticism of Israel. Ai mentioned that galleries in London and Paris have cancelled four of his upcoming exhibits.

Comparing the censorship to his experiences in authoritarian China, Ai said: “I am surprised. I think we should live in a small free society in which all kinds of different opinions and voices are allowed.” However, he sees the shutting down of debates in the West as showing a “backwards situation in terms of freedom of expression [and] human rights.”

Strikingly, Ai said that the censorship of speech critical of Israel has become “even more ridiculous” in the West than what critics of censorship are subjected to in China. He said that Western universities and media outlets now also routinely “clamp down” on opinions they disagree with. “You cannot talk about the truth” on certain issues, Ai warned, referring to the silencing of pro-Palestine activists.

Ai concluded in the strongest terms by saying that when it comes to censorship in debates about Israel-Palestine, “the West is doing exactly the same” as China, and in some cases even worse. The dissident sees it as a violation of artistic freedom of speech.

Speaking to Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, he also drew parallels between censorship in his native China and crackdowns on pro-Palestine speech in the West. He was once detained without charge for 81 days in a Chinese prison for his activism, and said that he feels a duty “as an artist to fight for human dignity and basic human rights [as well as] freedom of speech.”

Ai called on both individuals and governments in the West to “rethink our values” and what principles of free expression and democracy we are willing to defend. If the space for open debate continues to shrink, he warned, we risk sliding deeper into “crisis” and even a “possible World War III.”

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