Israel–Palestine conflict: Germany's national gallery removes all rivers and seas

In a controversial move, Germany's National Gallery in Berlin, aka the Alte Nationalgalerie, has decided to remove all artwork depicting rivers or seas from public view, reports hyperallergic.

This decision comes as part of a government decree apparently aimed at avoiding accidentally referencing political slogans.

The museum's announcement cited concerns about the phrase 'From the river to sea, Palestine will be free' — use of which is banned in Germany — prompting the removal of artworks featuring any number of water bodies, the report added.

Among the removed pieces are notable works such as Gustave Courbet’s 'The Wave' (1869) and Caspar David Friedrich’s 'The Monk by the Sea' (1808–10).

This action follows a previous proposal to symbolically bury Germany's Rhine river in solidarity with Israel, highlighting ongoing tensions surrounding politics in West Asia.

While some members of the German parliament support the decision, arguing for sensitivity to Jewish historical traumas, others have criticised it as excessive.

The move has also garnered praise from several German media outlets, which have seemingly accused international bodies of water of perpetuating anti-Semitism!

As per the report, German media outlets have also targeted the Nile, alleging that it maintains “an ongoing stream of antisemitism”.

Despite protests from the German Left, the decision stands and the removed artworks have been relocated to an underground storage facility, which was a former World War II Nazi bunker, adding yet another layer of irony to the situation.