Kent Police has declined to investigate an art exhibition featuring drawings of Israelis eating babies, ruling that the artwork does not constitute a hate crime or a non-crime hate incident — a decision that has drawn sharp criticism from Jewish community organisations and prompted calls for the force to reverse its position.
The exhibition, titled “Drawings Against Genocide,” was held at a gallery in Margate and sparked immediate backlash from Jewish groups who described the content as “grotesque,” “sickening” and “dangerous.” Among the works displayed was a piece depicting two auctioneers at Sotheby’s — owned by French-Israeli businessman Patrick Drahi — eating babies. Other drawings showed soldiers in IDF helmets alongside imagery of devils with horns, captions including “we love death,” and depictions of Labour politicians with speech bubbles stating “I am paid by Israel.”
Artist Matthew Collings, 70, said the exhibition was intended to raise awareness about what he described as Israeli actions in Gaza, and denied that the baby-eating image depicted Jewish people, stating that “nothing in the drawing says ‘Jews’ or claims Jews eat babies.” He said the piece was a comment on Zionism as an ideology.
In a letter to a complainant seen by The Telegraph, Kent Police said the artwork was “critical of the Israeli state and its actions” but did not include content “directly abusive or insulting toward Jewish people as a group.” The force also said there was no evidence of intent to stir up racial or religious hatred, which it described as a specific legislative requirement. A subsequent statement from the force said the content was “political in nature, focuses on a nation state rather than a protected group, and is part of artistic expression” afforded protection under freedom of expression laws.
Labour Against Antisemitism has written to Kent’s chief constable Tim Smith demanding the assessment be reconsidered. The letter argued the decision “lacks any real understanding of contemporary antisemitism” and that exhibitions of this nature “incite hatred” and “create a hostile environment for Jewish people” — particularly in the context of recent attacks including the burning of Jewish ambulances in Golders Green and a fatal attack at a Manchester synagogue.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the images were “clearly full of sickening antisemitic tropes” and called on Kent Police to reopen the investigation immediately, warning that such imagery contributed directly to attacks on Jewish communities.
Kent Police has indicated its decision stands following what it described as a thorough assessment of all available information.
