(Photos from CFL Queers for Palestine’s Instagram)
ORLANDO | Central Florida members of Queers for Palestine uploaded several photos and videos to their Instagram featuring a protest installation the group organized at Orlando Fringe May 27 and a subsequent altercation with a member of the Orlando Fringe staff.
The installation depicted white tents, with Rafah written in red spray paint, and white body bags covered in “blood.” The tents are haphazardly assembled to reflect the bombings that have been happening in Gaza.
Signs border the tents that read “US EMPIRE SUPPORTS APARTHEID” and “APPARENTLY THE COST OF FLOUR IS BLOOD.” The former sign contains multiple red hand prints layered all over the sign.
The first video in the collection shows the installation being trampled by a Fringe worker in a yellow tank top and camouflage cargo shorts.
The second video in the collection is a close up of the worker’s face as he says, “…for inclusivity.”
A member of Queers for Palestine can be heard in the second clips saying, “You’re more mad about the festival then genocide. Did you include this?”
The Instagram post from @cflqueersofpalestine claims that the worker verbally assaulted the organizers that set up the installation referring to one with an expletive.
Orlando Fringe addressed the situation in a Facebook post that says they have reached out to Central Florida Queers for Palestine for more information regarding the post.
“While we commend and support free speech, the pop-up art was not part of the formal selection process that other artists in the festival participated in,” Orlando Fringe wrote in the post. “Regardless, we take the entire situation very seriously and will consider appropriate next steps as more facts become available to us, and will communicate further at that time.”
Watermark has reached out to Orlando Fringe and Central Florida Queers for Palestine for further comment.
