Mathias Döpfner

“The sheepdog’s job is to herd the flock, to make sure that it goes where the shepherd wants it to go, as united as possible. The sheepdog does not focus on the center of the flock. His full attention is on the sheep that are about to stray. The sheepdog always circles the flock, looking for strays. He guards the edges. As soon as a sheep breaks out of formation and runs a few feet too far to the left or right, he jumps up and frightens or bites it, driving it back into the flock. He doesn’t kill it; he threatens and intimidates it, and all the sheep in the flock learn what not to do. Deviate. That may be a good thing for flocks of sheep. But we don’t need sheepdogs in a free society.”
― Mathias Döpfner, Dealings with Dictators: A CEO's Guide to Defending Democracy

“One of the main accusations and “proof” of the need for a boycott is that Zabludowicz has invested in Palantir. Its “main offense”: cooperation with the NSA and other secret services of exclusively democratic nations. Instead of describing Palantir, which is currently also playing a role in supporting Ukraine in its defense against the Russian war of aggression and in Israel in its defense against Hamas terror, as an important instrument in the international fight against terrorism, i.e. as a quasi-protective power of democracy, it is depicted as the epitome of evil in the woke milieu. Supporting Palantir is a welcome reason to cancel an art collection. Increasingly long lists of artists who have withdrawn their work from the Zabludowicz Collection are appearing on the Internet. The demands are coming thick and fast. It is not about weakening, it is about “the end,” the destruction of the collection. The anti-Israeli and antisemitic BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions), which among other things propagates the boycott of Israeli products all over the world (in sad continuity with the Nazi call “Don’t buy from Jews”), is largely behind the activities. The climax of the hate campaign was a conversation that Anita and Poju Zabludowicz had to have with the board of the Tate Gallery in spring 2022. In a friendly and understanding manner, Anita Zabludowicz was advised to resign from the Tate Council in order to prevent damage to the museum. Anita Zabludowicz politely asked what exactly they were accusing her of, what she had done wrong. The answer was a shrug of the shoulders. They feared the damage that some outraged artists and curators committed to the woke movement might do to the Tate. In short, the Tate, one of the most powerful cultural institutions in the world, bowed to the Zeitgeist. Following instead of leading.”
― Mathias Döpfner, Dealings with Dictators: A CEO's Guide to Defending Democracy