BERLIN (AP) — American photographer and activist Nan Goldin has used a speech at the opening of her exhibition in Germany to condemn Israel's war in Gaza.
Goldin, 71, said Friday she wanted to use her retrospective show at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin “as a platform to amplify my position of moral outrage" at what she described as "genocide in Gaza and Lebanon.”
“My grandparents escaped pogroms in Russia. I was brought up knowing about the Nazi Holocaust. What I see in Gaza reminds me of the pogroms that my grandparents escaped,” Goldin said.
Goldin, who is of Jewish origin, was born in Washington D.C. and is a leading artist and activist whose life and work was documented in the award-winning 2022 film “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed."
She spoke of the displacement and destruction in Gaza, and told a cheering audience that criticism of Israel should not be conflated with antisemitism.
Goldin also criticized Germany and alleged that Islamophobia was being ignored in the country. “Germany is home of the largest Palestinian diaspora in Europe. Yet protests are met with police dogs and deportation and stigmatization,” she said.
Goldin walked off the stage to loud chants of “free, free Palestine," which drowned out a subsequent speech by the director of the gallery, Klaus Biesenbach.
Hermann Parzinger, the president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, to which the Neue Nationalgalerie belongs, sharply condemned Goldin’s talk and the protesters' disruption of Biesenbach's speech.
“This does not correspond to our understanding of freedom of expression,” he said.
Biesenbach noted that he disagreed with Goldin but affirmed her right to freely express herself.
In a statement released by Biesenbach after the show's opening, cited by German news agency dpa, he said the gallery distanced itself from the protesters' stance and "clarifies that it stands for freedom of expression and respectful dialogue and interaction with each other.”
Neue Nationalgalerie’s lifetime retrospective of Goldin, titled “This Will Not End Well,” showcases a comprehensive overview of Goldin’s work, including slideshows and films backed up by music.
The Health Ministry in Gaza said this week that the death toll in the Gaza Strip from the 13-month-old war between Israel and Hamas has surpassed 44,000, with more than half of the fatalities women and children. The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Around 90% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people have been displaced.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Nan Goldin speaks at the opening of her exhibition "Nan Goldin. This Will Not End Well" at the Neue Nationalgalerie museum in Berlin , Friday, Nov. 22. 2024. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)
Pro-Palestinian supporters gather in front of the the Neue Nationalgalerie museum at the opening of the exhibition "Nan Goldin. This Will Not End Well" in Berlin , Friday, Nov. 22. 2024. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)
Nan Goldin speaks at the opening of her exhibition "Nan Goldin. This Will Not End Well" at the Neue Nationalgalerie museum in Berlin , Friday, Nov. 22. 2024. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)
HEALDSBURG, Calif. (AP) — A major storm dropped more snow and record rain in California, causing small landslides and flooding some streets, while on the opposite side of the country blizzard or winter storm warnings were in effect Saturday for areas spanning from the Northeast to central Appalachia.
Another storm system is expected to arrive for Thanksgiving week and linger into Tuesday in the Pacific Northwest, dumping rain as well as snow in the higher elevations, according to Torry Dooley, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
The Midwest and Great Lakes regions will also see rain and snow Monday while the East Coast will be the most impacted by weather on Thanksgiving and Black Friday. A low pressure system will bring rain to the Southeast early Thursday before heading to the Northeast, where areas from Boston to New York could see rain and strong winds. Parts of northern New Hampshire, northern Maine and the Adirondacks could get snow. If the system tracks further inland, the forecast would call for less snow for the mountains and more rain.
The storm on the West Coast arrived in the Pacific Northwest earlier this week, killing two people and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands, mostly in the Seattle area, before its strong winds moved through Northern California.
Santa Rosa, California, saw its wettest three-day period on record with about 12.5 inches (32 centimeters) of rain falling by Friday evening, according to the National Weather Service in the Bay Area.
Flooding closed part of scenic Highway 1, also known as the Pacific Coast Highway, in Mendocino County and there was no estimate for when it would reopen, according to the California Department of Transportation.
On the East Coast, another storm brought much-needed rain to New York and New Jersey, where rare wildfires have raged in recent weeks, and heavy snow to northeastern Pennsylvania. Parts of West Virginia were under a blizzard warning through Saturday morning, with up to 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow and high winds making travel treacherous.
As residents in the Seattle area headed into the weekend, more than 87,000 people were still without power from this season’s strongest atmospheric river — a long plume of moisture that forms over an ocean and flows through the sky over land. Crews worked to clear streets of downed lines, branches and other debris, while cities opened warming centers so people heading into their fourth day without power could get warm food and plug in their cellphones and other devices.
Gale warnings were issued off Washington, Oregon and California, and high wind warnings were in effect across parts of Northern California and Oregon. There were winter storm warnings for parts of the California Cascades and the Sierra Nevada.
Forecasters predicted that both coasts would begin to see a reprieve from the storms as the system in the northeast moves into eastern Canada and the one in the West heads south.
By Friday night, some relief was already being seen in California, where the sheriff’s office in Humboldt County downgraded evacuation orders to warnings for people near the Eel River after forecasters said the waterway would see moderate but not major flooding.
The system roared ashore on the West Coast on Tuesday as a “ bomb cyclone,” which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly. It unleashed fierce winds that toppled trees onto roads, vehicles and homes.
Debra Campbell said she was sitting in the dark with a flashlight that night, unable to sleep as strong winds lashed her house in Crescent City, California. With a massive boom, a 150-foot (46-meter) tree came crashing down on her home and car.
“It was just so incredibly frightening,” Campbell said. “Once I realized it wasn’t going to come through the ceiling where I was at, I was able to grab my car keys and my purse. ... And I open the front door and it’s just solid tree.”
In the Northeast, which has been hit by drought, more than 2 inches (5 centimeters) of rain was expected by Saturday morning north of New York City, with snow mixed in at higher elevations.
Despite the mess, the precipitation was expected to help ease drought conditions in a state that has seen an exceptionally dry fall.
“It’s not going to be a drought buster, but it’s definitely going to help when all this melts,” said Bryan Greenblatt, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Binghamton, New York.
Heavy snow fell in northeastern Pennsylvania, including the Pocono Mountains, prompting a raft of school closures. Higher elevations reported up to 17 inches (43 centimeters), with lesser accumulations in valley cities like Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. Less than 80,000 customers in 10 counties lost power, and the state transportation department imposed speed restrictions on some highways.
Parts of West Virginia also experienced their first significant snowfall of the season Friday and overnight Saturday, with up to 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) accumulating in the higher elevations of the Allegheny Mountains. Some areas were under a blizzard warning as gusty winds made travel conditions dangerous.
The precipitation helped put a dent in the state’s worst drought in at least two decades. It also was a boost for West Virginia ski resorts preparing to open their slopes in the weeks ahead.
Rodriguez reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writers Hallie Golden in Seattle, Janie Har in San Francisco, Manuel Valdes in Issaquah, Washington, Sarah Brumfield in Washington, D.C., Michael Rubinkam in Pennsylvania, John Raby in West Virginia and Lea Skene in Baltimore contributed.
A man looks at a tree that fell on power lines during a major storm in Issaquah, Wash., on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Valdes)
Firefighter Eugene Stipanov walks through floodwaters while responding to a rescue call in unincorporated Sonoma County, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A person uses an umbrella while crossing a street in the Meatpacking District neighborhood of Manhattan, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
People wait in line to enter the Whitney Museum of American Art, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Property off River Road floods as the Russian River overflows in Sonoma County, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Wohler Road off River Road is closed off as the Russian River floods in Sonoma County, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Craig Latham checks out the flooding at Johnson's Beach in Guerneville, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Firefighters walk through floodwaters while responding to a rescue call in unincorporated Sonoma County, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
