Museum at FIT Refuses to Comment on Controversial Relationship with Israeli Settlement Developer
The Museum of FIT refuses to comment on their controversial sponsorship deal with Israeli settlement-developer and (possible blood) diamond magnate Lev Leviev.
This past Saturday, activists in New York sang carols in the streets as the holidays approached. Don’t think that this was aimless festivities, though; these carolers had a mission. Juxtaposing familiar melodies with acerbic, witty lyrics, the activists sang in protest of the infamous Israeli settlement-developer and (possible blood) diamond magnate Lev Leviev and the Museum at FIT’s unrelenting sponsorship deal with him.
We reported on the Museum at FIT’s controversial tie to Leviev a few weeks ago, but as of yet there’s been no decision made (or even the faintest desire to handle the situation, it would seem.) Patrick Connors from the human rights organization Adalah-NY has been tracking the situation and had this breakdown for us:
On November 22, 2011 Steve Tuttle [FIT’s chief legal officer] left me a voicemail saying they were looking into it. In a November 23 phone discussion Tuttle told me they had a committee working on the issue. On November 29 they told WWD they were looking into it. On December 8 Adalah-NY sent them all added info they might have needed and offered again to put them in touch with experts on these topics.
There’s been no further development, and the numerous attempts made by Hyperallergic to contact FIT’s Public Relations department have been unfulfilled. Getting into pure speculation mode, considering the Daphne Guinness exhibition closes on January 7, 2012, it’s possible the Museum at FIT is just trying to ride the situation out without drawing too much attention to the matter.
Time’s running out, but we’ll keep you posted in the event a decision is made.
