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Artforum staff resign in protest after editor fired over publication of anti-Israel open letter
(JTA) — Several staff members at a leading art magazine resigned in protest over the weekend after their editor-in-chief was fired following the publication of a letter that was sharply critical of Israel.
Pro-Israel figures in the art world had condemned Artforum and its editor in chief, David Velasco, since the magazine’s publication of a letter expressing support for “Palestinian liberation” without mentioning the 1,400 people murdered when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
The drama at Artforum follows similar sagas at other arts and culture institutions in the wake of Hamas’ attack and Israel’s military response in Gaza. At 92NY in New York City, for example, staff members resigned and a book-talk series was scrapped after the venerable Jewish cultural institution canceled a talk with an author who had signed a different open letter condemning Israel.
David Velasco, who had worked at Artforum since 2005, was let go Thursday, one week after he oversaw the publication of an open letter “from the art community to cultural organizations.”
Declaring, “We support Palestinian liberation,” the letter condemned what it called “the institutional silence” of the art world to “the crimes against humanity that the Palestinian people are facing.” It also endorsed a ceasefire in Gaza. In addition to being signed by Jewish art-world luminaries including Nan Goldin and Barbara Kruger, the letter was also signed by Velasco himself.
The letter’s initial wording made no mention of the Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian terror group Hamas. A clause added Oct. 23, several days after publication, notes that the letter’s original, unnamed organizers “share revulsion at the horrific massacres of 1,400 people in Israel conducted by Hamas on October 7th” and “hope for the expeditious return of all hostages” along with a ceasefire. But it claimed that the new text could not be circulated to all 8,000 of the original letter’s signatories.
Days later, Velasco was reportedly summoned to a meeting with Jay Penske, CEO of the media conglomerate that owns Artforum. At the meeting, The Intercept reported, Velasco was fired. That same day, the magazine’s publishers posted a separate item noting that the letter “was not consistent with ‘Artforum’’s editorial process” and saying it had been “misinterpreted” as reflecting the position of the magazine.
“I have no regrets,” Velasco told the New York Times in an email. “I’m disappointed that a magazine that has always stood for freedom of speech and the voices of artists has bent to outside pressure.”
Following Velasco’s firing, according to ARTNews, at least four editors resigned from Artforum in protest and dozens more employees and contributors signed their own open letter demanding he be reinstated. They argued that his firing over the letter stifled the kind of “cultural debate” the magazine had staked its reputation on. In addition, several artists have declared their intention not to work with Artforum in the future, including Goldin and the Jewish painter Nicole Eisenman.
Some artists who removed their names from the letter after its initial publication said they had done so following what they characterized as a pressure campaign by pro-Israel art collectors. The Intercept reported that Bed Bath & Beyond heir Martin Eisenberg contacted at least four artist signatories of the letter whose work he owns to voice his objections.
The New York Times reported that Jewish museum fundraiser Sarah Lehat Blumenstein told a WhatsApp group she was prepared to launch a “deaccession plan” to “diminish the artists’ status”; Blumenstein told the Times that such a plan was not active.
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The post Artforum staff resign in protest after editor fired over publication of anti-Israel open letter appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.