Mr. David Butler,

I’m writing to express my outrage that you are allowing a special interest group to post brochures and a sign in the gallery to express their views on Middle Eastern politics in conjunction with Ms. Jacir’s exhibition “Where We Come From.”

I agree with Ms. Jacir:

“This is a complete infringement on my right to free speech, not to mention an insult to me as an artist. It is intolerable that I have to go through this just because of my background. I am sure no other artist would accept to work under such conditions. They are placing a huge unnecessary burden on my exhibit with the presence of the brochures which are intended to silence or censor my work. I am shocked that they would place such conditions in a the space of a museum.”

You are treading on a very slippery slope. If you were to exhibit work of a gay artist would you allow right-wing christians to display brochures and posters beside the exhibition explaining how gays are abominations? If it was an exhibition of Jewish artists would you allow neo-nazis or the KKK to express their views? These may sound like ridiculous speculations, but that is where this twisted logic leads.

I urge you to resist this pressure and allow artists’ voices to be heard in a neutral context. Do not allow special interest groups to take over your museum in their wrong-headed pursuit of “balance.”