Dread Scott

On October 20, 2023, less than two weeks after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, Scott published an opinion article titled: “Shall I Condemn Myself a Little for You?” In the article, he claimed that “persistent calls for people to denounce Hamas’s actions serve to dehumanize Palestinians and their supporters.”

Scott explained his position by comparing Hamas terrorism against Israelis to enslaved black men rebelling against white enslavers in 19th-century America. He wrote: “No one today would be expected to condemn the rebellion first, before being allowed to point out that if a country enslaves people, its citizens should not be surprised…if the enslaved treat their former enslavers with the same lack of humanity [and]...resort to terror and revenge…”

Scott then discussed “The background to the current situation” by quoting anti-Israel professor and activist Noura Erakat, who said: “‘Israel has subjected Palestinians to settler-colonial removal for 75 years, to the longest occupation in history for 56 years, and to a debilitating siege of Gaza holding 2.2 million Palestinians in an open-air prison for 16 years.’”

The State of Israel was established 75 years earlier, in 1948. Israel won the Six-Day War in 1967, 56 years before the publication of Scott’s article, against the armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

Scott concluded his article by urging readers to replace the question: “Do you support Hamas’s actions?” with questions such as: “Do you condemn an apartheid state?”

On October 30, 1989, Scott was reportedly arrested for burning an American flag on the steps of the United States Capitol as part of a protest against legislation outlawing flag desecration. Photos from the incident show Scott wearing a keffiyeh around his neck.

Scott later claimed: “The legislation contained specific wording that was added in response to…my artwork ‘What is the Proper Way to Display a US Flag?’”

“What is the Proper Way to Display a US Flag?” was a display Scott designed to allow viewers to step on an American flag laid on the floor so they could better see a photo showing American-flag draped coffins and South Korean students burning an American flag while holding signs that read: “Yankee Go Home Son of B**ch.”

As of December 2023, Scott discussed the piece on his website. He wrote: “America was forged by genocide and slavery and carries out profound exploitation and oppressions of whole peoples and vast regions of the planet…I personally look forward to the day when America and its flag are in the dustbin of history and people are striving to build a world…free of exploitation.”

Scott continued: “I have structured the work so that the viewpoint of...[those] who hate America and yearn for the world to be different is not excluded from the debate.”