The Royal Academy of Arts has been accused of displaying anti-Semitic artwork inspired by the war in Gaza for a second time.
Jewish visitors said they had been left upset by two pieces of artwork by Michael Sandle, a Royal Academy member, that were still on display at the Summer Exhibition as of Friday.
One £6,000 piece in the display titled “Terrorist versus smiling mass murderer of innocents”, shows what appears to be a Hamas member standing next to an Israeli air force pilot with a damaged building in the background.
A second work, titled “Apropos terror – a pilot doesn’t hear the screams of the women and children he is massacring with impunity”, is a slightly larger version of the first piece and priced at £25,000.
Caroline Turner, the director of UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), wrote to Natasha Mitchell, the Royal Academy’s interim secretary and chief executive, calling for them to be removed.
Ms Turner wrote: “The titles of both these drawings imply that Israel is purposely slaughtering women and children.”
“This is far from the truth, since the Israeli army does all it can to avoid harming women and children, while targeting Hamas terrorists, who unfortunately use women and children as human shields,” the letter added.
The two artworks were created by Michael Sandle, a Royal Academy member – Rosie Greenway/Getty Images
The letter was also sent to Batia Ofer, the chairwoman of the Royal Academy Trust and an Israeli-Canadian patroness and philanthropist.
Explaining why the artworks were anti-Semitic, the Ms Turner wrote that the pictures applied “double standards by requiring of Israel a behaviour not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation which can be anti-Semitic according to example eight of the IHRA’s [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] working definition of anti-Semitism”.
“The images use the symbols and images associated with classic anti-Semitism (eg claims of Jews killing children) to characterise Israel or Israelis; This is anti-Semitic according to example nine of the IHRA definition,” the letter says.
The letter, seen by The Telegraph, adds: “Accusing Jews of killing babies/children is an old-fashioned blood libel. Sandle should be aware that Israel aims to kill terrorists, not innocent children and others.”
Mrs Turner also claimed the Royal Academy was breaching the 2010 Equality Act because Sandle’s art was “likely to create an intimidating, hostile and offensive environment for Jews and Israelis who visit the gallery”.
One Jewish visitor said: “I just went to the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition. And there is some disgusting anti-Semitic art hanging there by an artist called Sandle. Unsurprisingly, this isn’t the first time.”
Michael Sandle’s second piece is an enlarged version of the first and is worth £25,000 – Royal Academy
Last year, the Royal Academy apologised for displaying artwork likening Israel to Nazi Germany in an annual Summer Show competition.
One piece by a 16-year-old named as “Andy”, which was later removed, appeared to compare Israel’s actions in Gaza to Nazism by featuring Arab women screaming under the shadow of a swastika and the looming figure of Buddha.
A note with the piece stated: “Watching the conflict unravel in Gaza draws many parallels with the Nazis and Chinese oppression, hence the Buddha symbol and the swastika.”
A second piece, which was removed, was a photograph of a protester claiming Israel was committing genocide.
The photograph, taken by an 18-year-old named “Kausar”, featured a man holding a sign stating: “Jews say stop genocide on Palestinians: not in our name.”
Ms Turner claimed the Royal Academy has “failed to take the concerns of your Jewish visitors into account”.
She added: “We are of course, in favour of freedom of artistic expression, but not freedom to express hateful anti-Semitic sentiments, which stoke up hatred against Jews and Israelis.”
In a statement, the Royal Academy said works in the exhibition “often reflect current societal and political topics”.
It said that artworks in the Summer Exhibition “should not be read as the Royal Academy supporting any particular artist’s point of view”.
The Royal Academy added: “We always take all concerns about artworks on display in the Summer Exhibition seriously; however, our role, as an artist and architect-led organisation, is to allow all artists the ability to express themselves.
“The Royal Academy is an organisation led by artists and architects and is committed to freedom of expression.”
In a further letter, Ms Mitchell insisted they were not breaching the Equality Act and added: “It is simply untrue to state that we are ignoring the matter, or the concerns raised.”
