Artists 4 Israel beautify Israel’s political landscape

With a flourish of color, creativity, and determination Artists 4 Israel is working to confront, dispel, and explode negative attitudes and misinformation about Israel through art.

“Artists 4 Israel is the security fence against cultural terrorism,” said Craig Dershowitz, president and founder of A4I, in an email interview. “We use the powerful and universal medium of art to express the beauty of Israel and counter the manipulation of the creative community by Israel’s enemies.”

In one of their media-covered installations, a group of their artists converge and assemble a gray cube-like structure, plaster one side with copies of anti-Israel fliers and then proceed to decorate the sharp edged building, painting over the inflammatory leaflets with the vivid strokes of spray-can graffiti art. In Washington Square Park, one of the A4I members stood outside the structure and explained to bystanders that it was a replica of a bomb shelter in Sderot where men, women and children have only fifteen seconds to dodge the bombs fired from Gaza, currently numbering over 10,000 since 2005. Bystanders are asked to enter the bomb shelter museum to hear a recorded “code red” warning from Sderot and see video footage of actual attacks, showing residents racing to shelters as the “tzeva adom” call blares and bombs strike, shaking the ground, explosions rending the air, smoke plumes billowing, flames engulfing cars. “We are using the arts to tell Israel’s story,” explained Dershowitz. Noting the criticism of some anti-Israel passersby, Dershowitz said, “We love the hate—it means we’re doing something right.”