Protest, Highbrow “Art” and The Uselessness of Civilization

The Inhumanity of the "Civilized"

Protest at the Royal Opera House

Daniel Perry, the young performer who raised the Palestine flag during the curtain call of Italian opera Il Trovatore at the Royal Opera House, made headlines with his bold act of defiance, holding onto the flag as his superiors backstage attempted to snatch it from his hands.

The backlash began immediately, painting the brave young man as a privileged leftie from a fee paying public school background, and referencing his sexual orientation – as if this should provide grounds for us to denounce him; when we know that, had such a vocal support for “Israel”, taken place in a similar setting, it would have been rapidly subsumed within their pinkwashing narrative of supporting gay rights.

In fact, his apparently privileged background should make us admire him more, for stepping away from the bubble of privilege that is usually the world of highbrow arts and culture, to make a direct, bold and confrontational stance for truth and against the kind of ivory tower detachment that many of the consumers of this type of art seem to display.

Daniel has since appeared on social media to explain his actions within the frame of “using his platform” to make a statement on the worst atrocity, injustice and man made human rights catastrophe of our lifetimes. What is surprising is not that he has made such a statement, but that more people have not transformed their professional sphere into a place of protest.

What is even more shocking though, are the comments from some of the audience members when interviewed, calling the act “disrespectful”, “ungrateful” and “inappropriate”.

Books for Bread

I recently saw a striking post in amongst my many Instagram posts on the spectre of forced starvation that is killing Palestinians in their hundreds. It was yet another testimony to the creativity, culture and dignity of the Palestinians in the face of a treatment so brutal and prolonged, that it is a wonder that they continue to post, write and produce testimonials and footage of their plight.

This man had hundreds of books that he had been continuing to read throughout the genocide. That’s right – throughout the daily bombings, shellings and strikes, the drones hovering overhead night and day, the heat, famine, disease and danger – he revered his book collection, re=reading literary classics to keep his mind occupied.

However, as the hunger reached an intolerable and critical stage, he finally concluded that he was ready to sell his entire library for half a loaf of bread. Such is the inability of books to feed hunger. In the real world, libraries are a luxury when there is no food on the table and the stomach is gnawed from the inside out with hunger pangs; the sure truth that our physiology will necessarily intrude rudely into the sublime and propel us to action.

The Futility of Art and the Lie of Anti-Semitism

Back to the Opera – one of the most refined and highbrow art forms, accessible to those with money, prestige and status, as the young performer Daniel also pointed out in his justification for choosing that opportune moment to unfurl the flag that is now a potent symbol of the injustice of the power of privileged nations over the ones they have oppressed.

An audience with the kind of privilege that guarantees they will never have to sell their books or art for a piece of bread, were uncomfortable with the displaying of a flag that signifies the brutality currently being unleashed on a population of civilians because it spoiled their performance, their elevated removal from the matters of everyday life - such as genocide – piercing their bubble of highbrow glamour with a rude reminder of matters they did not wish to be bothered by at this time – if at all.

Descriptors such as “inappropriate” – who defines what is “appropriate” or not? A Ukraine flag would have hit the spot; “disrespectful” – to whom? The people who are dying? The people who wish to be unbothered? “Ungrateful”? Who is being ungrateful – the performer who is putting his career on the line (he has been banned from performing at the Royal Opera House forevermore, a hard-won accolade for any young performer to have to forego), or the audience who have the privilege to be the elite consumers of such art?

Clearly, the scramble of certain authors such as JK Rowling and others, to express their allegiance to “Israel” in the immediate wake of October 7th, was their own misguided attempt to align themselves with the so-called “values” of civilisation, the white, imperialist values, the “side” that holds up “Israel’s” actions as sacrosanct no matter how many people they kill, because “anti-semitism” is a slur that is supposed to mean you are uncivilised, such is the propaganda.

The term “anti-semitism” strikes fear into the hearts of “civilized” white Europeans in power, because it exposes their own role in the historical persecution of the Jews - a fact wholly unrelated to the colonial land grab of Palestine, but one that informs the gutless behaviour of many “intellectuals” and notable figures within the public sphere.

The real lesson from the Palestinian man who was ready to exchange his entire library for some food, was this: that aeons of accumulated “culture” in the form of books, art, words of wisdom and stories elevated into the literary canon – have all been pointless. Our accumulated “civilization” has been utterly useless - if all it has done is brought us to this point: where an entire civilian population are being starved and bombed, while the world – especially the so called “civilized” world – looks on, and indeed bankrolls the entire thing.

This “highbrow” audience that would have us believe they are the most refined and cultured members of society – were, many of them, not civilized enough to appreciate the act of boldness and consummate civilization displayed by a young man risking his career to highlight a genocide. Because what is “civilization” if all of those writings, all of that art – do not develop the moral values of individuals and allow them to discern right from wrong?

In defiantly unfurling the Palestine flag onstage at the elevated and prestigious Royal Opera House, and holding onto it when his managers attempted to pettily snatch it from him - Daniel Perry not only illustrated to us how Palestine should be foregrounded in our professional spaces in whichever way possible – but he has also highlighted the ultimately tragic lack of any correlation between consuming the supposedly “finest” of cultural production, and having any corresponding humanity - and real civilization of values.