Qatar Museums has stood in solidarity with Palestine by postponing a number of planned festivities.
Qatar Museums has postponed Qatar Creates Week for October 2023 in solidarity with Palestine as Israel’s deadly bombardments continue to destroy entire neighbourhoods and forcibly displace millions from Gaza.
“With the escalation of the situation in the Middle East over the last few days, we are all deeply saddened and concerned about the tragic loss of lives and the wellbeing of the innocent people caught up in the troubles,” the statement read.
“Whilst Qatar is not directly affected by the ongoing crisis, this is not a moment to celebrate.”
Qatar Creates Week, a renowned annual event, has long been a symbol of unity and cultural exchange, with a focus on using arts and culture as a means of global communication.
Given the current circumstances, festivities and celebrations originally planned for October 2023 will be postponed. However ,the event’s exhibition openings and public panel discussions will proceed as scheduled.
“We were looking forward to welcoming people worldwide – however, we cannot celebrate when innocent civilians are being killed. In lieu of this, we have made the decision to call off any festivities and celebrations planned for Qatar Creates week for October 2023,” the statement clarified.
“Our exhibition openings and public schedule of panel discussions will go ahead as planned, however the FTA Judging and Awards have been postponed.”
While acknowledging the disappointment the postponement may bring, Qatar Museums expressed deep gratitude for the hard work and dedication that has gone into planning the event.
“We will of course extend a warm welcome to international guests who wish to join us, with an awareness that many may not wish to travel at this time,” it added.
“This was a difficult but necessary decision to take, and I would like to extent my gratitude to everyone for the huge amount of work and effort that has been put in to planning October’s Qatar Creates, its exhibitions and events.”
Meanwhile, solidarity stances with Palestine have also been witnessed across the Gulf country as multiple businesses have announced they would be dedicating either a portion or their complete profits during a specific time period to Palestinians currently undergoing one of the deadliest attacks in history.
Qatar has also joined global solidarity movements with a number of rallies held across the city over the weekend.
Looming ground invasion
Gaza is currently facing a complete siege with Israel preventing access to water, electricity and food to more than two million residents of the blockaded enclave.
Announcing the siege on Monday, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said: “There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly”.
Earlier this week, Israel threatened over one million Gazans residing in the northern region to relocate to the south but was then filmed bombing convoys fleeing as instructed.
On Sunday, the Israeli military declared it is ready to “expand the attack” on Gaza, saying it was planning a wide range of offensive operations, including “coordinated attacks from the air, sea and land”.
According to reports, Israeli tanks have started positioning themselves along the Gaza border in what has been described as the “largest pull-up of Israeli reservists in Israel’s history”.
“We also saw Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talking to troops and telling them the next phase was about to begin. Some leaks in Israeli media also say ground invasion is going to begin. It is now only a question of time before that happens,” Al Jazeera journalist Stefanie Dekker reported from the ground.
In just over a week, the deadly Israeli attacks on Palestine have claimed the lives of at least 2,329, including more than 700 children, Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday.
