Gaza Goes to Burning Man

If this doesn't make your blood boil, I don't know what can.

Religion Sep 15, 2024 0 Add to Reading List

As the 2024 festival was coming to a close, it became clear that Burning Man, the event that has always prided itself on being a non-political and “radically inclusive” space, had thrown itself into a firestorm that revealed its deeper, and perhaps unacknowledged, biases.

Earlier in May 2024, Burning Man removed an artwork titled “From the River to the Sea” from its website after a Change.org petition criticized it as anti-Semitic. The watermelon sculpture was intended to symbolize solidarity with Palestinian struggles. However, it was swiftly taken down.

Fast forward to its 2024 event, Burning Man introduced the “Nova Heaven” installation. This large-scale tribute featured 405 wooden angels and messages of hope to honor the Israeli victims on October 7, 2023.

Is it really an apolitical event if Burning Man removed the Palestinian solidarity piece to prominently feature a tribute to Israelis?

At the surface level, the festival’s decision to remove a pro-Palestine artwork because of a pro-Zionist petition may sound obvious, given it presents itself as a purely apolitical event. However, is it really an apolitical event if Burning Man removed the Palestinian solidarity piece to prominently feature a tribute to Israelis? Because the juxtaposition raises serious questions about its commitment to its apolitical stance.

Further complicating matters, the festival’s community response has been disheartening. On Reddit, some Burners expressed that spaces to mourn or honor Palestinians were unwelcome, and in some cases, Palestinians were even equated to terrorists. Such views are not just offensive but reveal a disturbing trend of bias that suggests a more profound issue with how Palestinian voices are treated.

This situation isn’t merely about a single art piece or a festival’s response to political pressure. It reflects broader, troubling dynamics in how solidarity is handled in spaces that claim to be inclusive. Burning Man has not only failed in its self-proclaimed apolitical stance but also inadvertently supported a narrative of selective empathy.

If it truly wants to be relevant to the issues of the times, Burning Man has to exercise its role as a radically inclusive platform without succumbing to political biases because bowing to the pro-Zionist regime is radically exclusive.

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