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A sculpture entitled Stairway to Heaven by Catalan Eugenio Merino
offends Israelis and Jews

The artist says that 'Stairway to Heaven', which is exhibited in ARCO,
is not anti-Semitic, but reflects the alliance of civilizations.

The Israeli Embassy in Madrid sent a statement stressing its rejection
of works by the Catalan artist Eugenio Merino presented in the gallery's
booth at the fair in Madrid 2010. Specifically, it shows its revulsion
over the piece entitled Stairway to Heaven, which showed three
Christians (a Muslim, a priest and a Jew) praying atop one another.

The Israeli embassy believes that the work by Merino have "items
offensive to Jews, Israelis, and probably others." "Values such as
freedom of expression or artistic freedom sometimes serve in the costume
of prejudice, stereotypes or mere provocation for provocation". It also
states that something "offensive is no less hurtful for pretending to
be an artistic work." "We think this is one of those cases and declare
that this kind of provocation is successful precisely because common
sense can not leave them unanswered".

In the same vein, he explained that religion is always "problem" and >>>