An Interview With Artists4Israel Founder Craig Dershowitz

June 1, 2010

Artist Craig Dershowitz recently took some time to answer a few questions via email from the New Vilna Review about Artists4Israel, an organization devoted to showing the world that there is support for the Jewish State within the arts community. In this interview, Mr. Dershowitz talks about a recent trip to Israel by a group of artists which he organized, how Artists4Israel is working to combat the violent rhetoric of Hamas and what inspired him to use his artistic talents to advocate for Israel.

NVR: For people who might not be familiar with your project, can you give us a brief description of Artists4Israel?

Artists 4 Israel is a community of creative individuals working together in collaborative projects expressing Israel’s right to exist in peace and security. In other words, we are the response to Hamas’ “culture war” against Israel. We are proactively using the arts to communicate pro-Israel messaging in an emotive and informative way – changing the narrative of the Middle East Conflict and winning hearts and minds to the beauty of Israel.

NVR: Can you tell us a little about  yourself and what inspired you to start this project?

I grew up in a housing project in Coney Island, Brooklyn back before gentrification. I grew up with the stories of the African-American struggle for independence and freedom and how they used the arts to liberate themselves from oppression and discrimination. As I grew and studied, I learned that same story was shared by my own people. I realized that Israel had the same story of hope made evident through the will and power of her people.

While working a corporate job, I distracted myself by writing and performing. I did slam poetry across the Lower East Side and had works published in Vice Magazine, among others. A few years ago, I became the Creative Director of a boutique, graffiti magazine. Very quickly, that magazine rose in prominence and became an important political and sociological voice for a cross-national generation. There, I began experimenting with using the medium of graffiti and writing to communicate pro-Israel messaging.

The response was overwhelming. Unlike other art forms where the liberal mindset has been corrupted by misinformation and group-think, the graffiti community was both aware and curious. They identified with the strong Israeli sticking up for her rights and defending herself against vicious and cruel enemies.

During Operation Cast Lead, we held a gallery show of 30 of New York’s legendary graffiti artists. Over 400 people came out in a blizzard to attend this event. We realized immediately that we had a pulpit.

NVR: Can you tell us a little about some of the other people involved in Artists4Israel?

Seth Wolfson and Tara Gordon are the Vice-Presidents of Artists 4 Israel. They are tireless and incredibly creative leaders. They have turned this idea, with no funding and no connections within the community, into one of the most influential organizations in the space of Israeli advocacy in only a years time.

Equally important are Sarah Brega, our Director of Programming and Marianne Pane, Information Architect, both non-Jews, who consistently come up with the most unique and exciting ideas, always forcing us to move forward and progress.

We are also lucky to count over 200 others as Resident Artists under the A4I umbrella who help out on a per-project basis. We insist that art be the foundation upon which all of our actions are based and from graffiti to theater to indie rock, our artists are some of the most respected in their fields.

NVR: How has the general public responded to Artists4Israel?

Response has been a roller-coaster of emotion. For most, it is a thrilling, joyous ride ever upwards. But, for the enemies of Israel, for the brainwashed and deceived whose thought corruption doesn’t allow them to consider new information, the response is angry and heated.

Of course, some of our programming and methodologies are non-traditional and we find that, in rare occasions, the orthodoxy of Jewish thought and/or Israeli-advocacy don’t always get it right away. But, then again, if they were doing things right in the first place – we wouldn’t need to be here.

NVR: What are some of the challenges you have faced as the program has grown and evolved?

The challenge is monstrous. We are facing a far better equipped enemy with many more resources. Hamas’ culture war machine has untold billions in oil money and stolen aid money to create plays and poetry and movies against Israel. We have the truth and a microphone that works half the time. Luckily, artists are resourceful individuals and we get by. But, we really need the Jewish and Israel-advocacy communities to recognize the importance of our mission and either fund us or start doing this themselves.

NVR: Recently your group took a trip to Israel, can you tell us what the purpose of this trip was, and what the experience was like?

The purpose of Murality: Paint Israel was three-fold. First, we wanted to show the world that the arts community supports Israel. Second, we wanted to show non-Jewish artists the beauty and hospitality of the country and, finally, we wanted to turn the ugly and fearful bomb shelters in Sderot into beautiful pieces of art that would re-awaken the creative spirit of that besieged town.

The experience was beyond even the wildest expectation. From the first moment a mother of three children met us by a bomb shelter and brought us cake to when the Mayor of Sderot handed us the key to the city, we were intimately and passionately connected to our brothers and sisters in Israel.

NVR: Looking into the future, what would you like to see Artists4Israel doing 10 years down the road?

Ten years from now, I wish to be welcoming you to the largest music festival of all time with 30 of the world’s most popular bands performing Hatikvah at a rally that is in support of Israel – not an Israel under siege but an Israel that has been lovingly accepted into the world community.