Ambassador Husam Zomlot, Head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK, wrote to the Chief Executive Officer of the Chelsea and Westminster Trust Ms Lesley Watts on the 25th of February to express his profound dismay at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital’s decision to take down children’s artwork designed by Gazan schoolchildren and placed at the entrance to the children’s outpatients department.
The artwork displayed in the hospital was the work of pupils at two United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools.
In his letter to Ms Watts, the Palestinian ambassador expressed his disappointment that the hospital caved into “racist and discriminatory bullying that completely ignores the realities on the ground as well as international law.”
The decision came after pressure from UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), a pro-Israel interest group, for exhibiting these artworks. Among other things, UKLFI complained that one painting shows a Palestinian flag flying above al-Aqsa mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.
“That complaint flies in the face of international law,” H.E. wrote. “Al-Aqsa is located in East Jerusalem, an occupied Palestinian area and the future capital of the state of Palestine as per international resolutions.”
Full text of the letter below
