Surrend is a group of Danish artists which seeks to make fun of the world’s powerful men and crazy ideological conflicts – including religious extremism - using stickers, posters and advertisements. An exhibition organised by the group in Berlin has been closed down following threats from religious extremists.

The extremists objected to a poster that showed the Kabaa - the black granite cube-shaped building in Mecca towards which Muslims pray – with the words “stupid stone” in German were superimposed on it. The poster also showed the faithful walking around it with speech bubbles saying “Zionist occupied government”.

The artists had set out to satirise the the conspiracy theory that Jews are behind everything - a view prevalent among neo-Nazis and in parts of the Arab world. It sounds like they struck a bit close to home for some of these people.

The director of the art gallery said that the exhibition had been temporarily closed following threats of violence if the poster was not removed. He has also expressed concern about groups of individuals censoring art.

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