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Arts School in London Urged to Investigate Student Refusing to Sell Artwork to Zionists
The North Wing of the UCL Wilkins Building, home to the Slade School of Fine Art. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The Slade School of Fine Art in London has come under fire after one of its students said she refuses to sell her artwork to Zionists.
On May 20, Betty Ogún posted on her Instagram Story: “I will never, ever support genocide. I will not sell to Z*onist collectors and I will continue to do what I can to support human rights, peace and equal rights for all. Free Palestine.” The British charity UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) took a screenshot of the comment, which was also uploaded on Ogún’s Instagram page in a permanent post, but that has since been deleted.
Ogún exhibited her artwork at Slade’s 2024 BA/BFA degree show, which took place from May 17-23. She included a piece titled “River to Sea / Flower of Liberation,” which featured a textile in the shape of a flower that was designed in the colors of the pan-African and pan-Arab flags, Ogun explained in an Instagram post. The textile flower was green, red, black and white, and was displayed on a chair during the degree show.
“Blooming flowers are often a symbol of hope, growth, regeneration and resilience,” Ogun said, elaborating on her intention behind the creation. “These colors signify my transparent solidarity as an artist with the rights of those experiencing oppression and genocide in countries that are represented by these colors, ie Palestine, Sudan. The flower, in its composition, will remind you of a watermelon, which is the Palestinian symbol of resilience. When you come to my show and sit in the chair with this textile piece, you are facing Palestine.”
On May 21, UKLFI wrote a letter to Mary Evans, director of the Slade School of Fine Art, which is part of University College London (UCL), The British charity asked Slade and UCL to investigate Ogun’s discrimination against Zionist buyers, as well as Jews and Israelis, and “discipline her in an appropriate manner.”
“We also request that you will introduce some instruction on these issues of equality and discrimination, so that your students will understand that discriminating against Jews and Zionists is a form of racism,” the letter stated.
UKLFI pointed out that Ogun’s comments and refusal to sell to Zionists is in breach of UCL’s policies on institutional racism and inclusion, and on religion and belief equality. It is also illegal to for her to discriminate against Zionist buyers according to Section 29 of the UK’s Equalities Act 2010 (also known as “the Act”), which prohibits a person supplying goods to the public or a section of the public from discriminating against persons with protected characteristics by not supplying them.
“If Ms Ogun refuses to sell her work to Zionists, she will be in breach of the Act for discriminating against people believing in Zionism, which is a belief that the State of Israel has a right to exist,” UKLFI explained to Evans. “She will also be indirectly discriminating against Jewish people, since most Jewish people are Zionists, and indirectly discriminating against Israelis, since most Israelis are Zionists. Being Jewish, Israeli or a Zionist are all ‘protected characteristics’ under the Act.”
The British charity additionally suggested that Slade seems to be lacking in its education, if its curriculum does not teach students the legal framework they would have to adhere to as self-employed artists. “Ms Ogun’s current stance would make it impossible for any gallery or agent to offer her work, without risking falling foul of the Equality Act,” the charity said.
The Slade School of Fine Art did not respond to The Algemeiner‘s request for comment about Ogún’s social media post.
UKFLI told The Algemeiner on Wednesday that four of Ogún’s photographs and paintings are being sold on the website of Saatchi Art, which describes itself as “the world’s leading online art gallery.” The gallery sells many artworks by Israeli artists, and is named after and owned by famed art collector Charles Saatchi, who was born in 1943 to a Jewish family in Iraq.
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El Al Says to Start Rescue Flights Out of Israel Starting on Monday, After Getting 25,000 Applications
FILE PHOTO: Aircraft belonging to Israel’s state carrier El Al and Israir among other airlines, are parked at Larnaca International Airport, in Larnaca, Cyprus June 16, 2025. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo
Israeli airline El Al said it would resume flights out of Tel Aviv airport on Monday, as the government began to allow limited “rescue” flights in the midst of the Middle East conflict and US bombing of Iran.
El Al said it had received 25,000 applications for flights out of Israel since it opened a web site for requests on Saturday, although government rules will limit flights to 50 passengers each, it added in a Sunday statement.
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US Urges China to Dissuade Iran from Closing Strait of Hormuz
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday called on China to encourage Iran to not shut down the Strait of Hormuz after Washington carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
Rubio’s comments on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo” show came after Iran’s Press TV reported that the Iranian parliament approved a measure to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of global oil and gas flows.
“I encourage the Chinese government in Beijing to call them about that, because they heavily depend on the Straits of Hormuz for their oil,” said Rubio, who also serves as national security adviser.
“If they do that, it will be another terrible mistake. It’s economic suicide for them if they do it. And we retain options to deal with that, but other countries should be looking at that as well. It would hurt other countries’ economies a lot worse than ours.”
Rubio said a move to close the strait would be a massive escalation that would merit a response from the US and others.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately provide comment.
US officials said it “obliterated” Iran’s main nuclear sites using 14 bunker-buster bombs, more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles and over 125 military aircraft. The strikes mark an escalation in the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict.
Tehran has vowed to defend itself. Rubio on Sunday warned against retaliation, saying such an action would be “the worst mistake they’ve ever made.”
He added that the US is prepared to talk with Iran.
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US Strikes Against Iran Not Aimed at Regime Change, Pentagon Chief Says
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on US President Donald Trump’s budget request for the Department of Defense, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
The US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites were not a preamble to regime change, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday, adding that Washington sent private messages to Tehran encouraging negotiation.
Officials kept operation “Midnight Hammer” highly secret, limiting knowledge of the mission to a small number of people in Washington and at the US military’s Middle East headquarters in Tampa, Florida.
Seven B-2 bombers flew for 18 hours from the United States into Iran to drop 14 bunker-buster bombs, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, told reporters.
Hegseth warned Iran against following through with past threats of retaliation against the United States and said US forces would defend themselves.
“This mission was not and has not been about regime change,” Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon. “The president authorized a precision operation to neutralize the threats to our national interests posed by the Iranian nuclear program.”
Caine said initial battle damage assessments indicated that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction, but he declined to speculate whether any Iranian nuclear capabilities might still be intact.
In total, the US launched 75 precision-guided munitions, including more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles, and more than 125 military aircraft, in the operation against three nuclear sites, Caine said.
The operation pushes the Middle East to the brink of a major new conflagration in a region already aflame for more than 20 months with wars in Gaza and Lebanon and a toppled dictator in Syria.
Tehran has vowed to defend itself and responded with a volley of missiles at Israel that wounded scores of people and destroyed buildings in its commercial hub Tel Aviv.
But, perhaps in an effort to avert all-out war with the superpower, it had yet to carry out its main threats of retaliation – to target US bases or choke off the quarter of the world’s oil shipments that pass through its waters.
Caine said the US military had increased protection of troops in the region, including in Iraq and Syria.
“Our forces remain on high alert and are fully postured to respond to any Iranian retaliation or proxy attacks, which would be an incredibly poor choice,” Caine said.
The United States already has a sizeable force in the Middle East, with nearly 40,000 troops in the region, including air defense systems, fighter aircraft and warships that can detect and shoot down enemy missiles.
Reuters reported last week that the Pentagon had already started to move some aircraft and ships from bases in the Middle East that may be vulnerable to any potential Iranian attack.
The military had already moved aircraft that were not in hardened shelters from Al Udeid base in Qatar and its naval vessels from a port in Bahrain, where the 5th Fleet is located.
NOT OPEN ENDED
With his unprecedented decision to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites, directly joining Israel’s air attack on its regional arch foe, Trump has done something he had long vowed to avoid – intervene militarily in a major foreign war.
Trump, who insisted on Saturday that Iran must now make peace or face further attacks, could provoke Tehran into retaliating by closing the Strait of Hormuz, attacking US military bases and allies in the Middle East, and activating proxy groups against American and Israeli interests worldwide.
The Iranian parliament approved closing the Strait of Hormuz, a potential choke point for oil shipments, but the country’s top security body is required to make a final decision, Iran’s press TV reported.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday called on China to encourage Iran to not shut down the Strait of Hormuz.
Hegseth, who said the Pentagon notified lawmakers about the operation after US aircraft were out of Iran, said the strikes against Iran were not open ended.
“As the president has directed and made clear, this is most certainly not open ended,” Hegseth said, adding that the US military would respond if necessary.
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