Tag: BDS

Don’t play Berlin Pop-Kultur under Israeli Embassy sponsorship!

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***UPDATE:
Iklan, featuring Law Holt, are the first UK band to respond to Palestinians’ appeal to withdraw from Israeli-sponsored festival 17.08.2017

Brian Eno and Roger Waters have told Artists for Palestine UK they endorse APUK’s open letter (below) to Pop-Kultur musicians 17.08.2017

 

AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL UK MUSICIANS  SCHEDULED TO APPEAR IN BERLIN AUGUST 23 – 25, 2017

‘Art goes beyond a single act on a stage; it’s against all that is regressive and discriminatory in this world’
Mohammad Abu Hajar, Syrian rapper

Dear colleagues:

When you signed up to play Berlin Pop-Kultur, you possibly didn’t know that the Israeli Embassy in Germany was a sponsor.   Maybe you also don’t know that Palestinian civil society, living under Israeli military occupation or in exile, is appealing to artists not to take part in events sponsored by the state of Israel, in solidarity with the Palestinians’ long struggle for rights and freedom.

But now that you do know, will you follow the example of the musicians who have withdrawn from Pop-Kultur in the past few days?

For instance, Emel Mathlouthi, singer-songwriter of the Tunisian Revolution, who says:

I was looking forward to playing later this month in Berlin, until I realized the festival is sponsored by the Israeli embassy.   Now that I know, I’ll have to pull out.  

As things get tougher inside and outside Palestine, what each one of us can always do is show solidarity and empathy; as artists it starts by being true and faithful.
Emel Mathlouthi, 15 August 2017

 And Mohammad Abu Najar, of the Syrian rap band Mazzaj, himself a refugee from the Assad regime in Germany, whose statement says:

To be consistent with our political commitment against any form of oppression, colonialism or discrimination we proudly declare our withdrawal from the festival as long as it endorses the discriminatory policies of the Israeli state by collaborating with [it] and displaying its logo.

We call for all the participating artists to take a similar position to prove that art is still a message that goes beyond a single act on a stage, that art is a position against all that is regressive and discriminatory in this world.
Mohammad Abu Hajar, 11 August 2017

Pop-Kultur says the Israeli Embassy’s logo is on its site because the Embassy are paying some musicians’ expenses, and they have no influence on content.

But that’s not the point.   The point is that the state of Israel continues to dispossess the indigenous population of Palestine, and shows no sign of stopping.   Abu Hajar says:

‘We will not participate in a festival that accepts partnership with a government which openly declared on many different occasions anti-Arab, anti-Muslim and anti-Black attitudes.’

Dear colleagues, you know that you have the power to tell the Israeli government you disapprove of its actions.   You have the power to tell the Palestinians they are not alone under occupation and in exile.   Please use your power.

Please withdraw from Berlin Pop-Kultur.

Artists for Palestine UK
London, August 15, 2017

At the time of writing, the following UK artists are scheduled to appear at Pop-Kultur:

Arab Strap, Simone Butler, Shirley Collins, Darkstar, Christine Franz, Manuela Gernedel, Law Holt, IDLES, Iklan, Ian Keary, Lady Leshurr, David Laurie, Let’s Eat Grandma, Little Simz, Timothy London, Cieron Magat, Nick McCarthy, Anna Meredith, Piano Wire, Simon Price, Alexis Taylor, Throwing Shade, Typewriter-Klangwelten, Christian Vogel, Stephen Warwick, Rob Young, Young Fathers.

UPDATE: 17.08.2017 :  Iklan, featuring Law Holt, are the first UK band to respond to Palestinians’ appeal to withdraw from Israeli-sponsored festival

Israeli cultural whitewash fails to impress at Edinburgh Festival Fringe

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For the second August in a row, advocates for Israel have used Edinburgh’s huge annual cultural gathering as cover for an attempt to whitewash the state’s decades of oppression and racist discrimination against Palestinians.

Under the rubric of coexistence and cultural cooperation, this year’s International Shalom Festival, staged over three days at a community secondary school, sought to avoid the opprobrium heaped upon its blatantly propagandistic 2016 incarnation.

Last year the event’s organisers, known for working with the Israeli Embassy to undermine and oppose campaigning work in support of Palestinian rights, proudly proclaimed it as a major “Israel advocacy” initiative. This year the same groups – the Confederation of Friends of Israel Scotland (COFIS) and StandWithUs – have tried to entice audiences with a vision of Israel as a haven of tolerance and harmony offering “real examples of coexistence”.

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Israeli historian Ilan Pappe to Radiohead: ‘It would be immoral to perform in such circumstances’

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The Israeli historian Ilan Pappe has issued the following statement regarding Radiohead’s decision to appear on stage in Israel tomorrow, disregarding appeals from Palestinians and their supporters around the world.

Via Artists for Palestine UK, London, July 18th

‘The oppression of the Palestinians in the occupied territories has not ceased for one day in the last 50 years. This oppression includes daily violations of Palestinian human and civil rights and does not spare children, pregnant mothers, old people, disabled persons and ordinary men and women. The so called peace process has failed to end this oppression and each failure of its various stages has produced more oppression and despair for the millions of Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

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Mike Leigh slams Radiohead for ignoring Palestinians

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Artists for Palestine UK statement
London, July 17

Film writer and director Mike Leigh has criticised Thom Yorke and Radiohead for ignoring Palestinian suffering, two days ahead of their controversial Israel gig.

Last week Radiohead front-man Yorke defended the band’s decision to play in Israel and ignore the Palestinian picket-line, arguing that music was about ‘crossing borders’ and ‘shared humanity’.

Today, Oscar nominated Leigh, who is in production for his forthcoming feature film ‘Peterloo’, issued the following statement via Artists for Palestine UK – Continue reading →

Ken Loach has nothing to apologise for

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Statement from Artists for Palestine UK
London, July 15

As UK band Radiohead prepares to perform in Israel on July 19 in direct breach of the Palestinian boycott, leading boycott supporter Ken Loach has faced defamatory attacks on his integrity.

Loach is committed to supporting Palestinian rights

Loach is one of over 1,220 signatories to the Artists’ Pledge for Palestine who have made the following commitment:

‘… In response to the call from Palestinian artists and cultural workers for a cultural boycott of Israel, we pledge to accept neither professional invitations to Israel, nor funding, from any institutions linked to its government until it complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.’

Because Artists for Palestine UK (APUK)  has always understood the complex problems that artists from all disciplines face around rights ownership once an artwork enters the market, we have been explicit about which practical steps can be expected of artists who support the Palestinian call for boycott, and which  cannot. The guidelines, which have been on the Artists for Palestine UK website since we launched in February 2015, include the following question and answer:

‘Q. I am an artist and I do not have control over who buys the art I produce, nor the circulation of that work once it has been sold. Am I in a position to sign the Pledge?

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AN OPEN LETTER TO RADIOHEAD

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London, April 24th  2017

Dear Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien and Philip Selway,

You’re listed to play Tel Aviv in July this year.

We’d like to ask you to think again – because by playing in Israel you’ll be playing in a state where, UN rapporteurs say, ‘a system of apartheid has been imposed on the Palestinian people’.   

We understand you’ve been approached already by Palestinian campaigners. They’ve asked you to respect their call for a cultural boycott of Israel, and you’ve turned them down.   Since Radiohead campaigns for freedom for the Tibetans, we’re wondering why you’d turn down a request to stand up for another people under foreign occupation. And since Radiohead fronted a gig for the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we’re wondering why you’d ignore a call to stand against the denial of those rights when it comes to the Palestinians. 
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‘No one now regrets boycotting apartheid South Africa’

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 UPDATE 09.03.2017 From Israeli Citizens: Radiohead, Please Don’t Play Tel-Aviv
Open letter from Israeli citizens to Radiohead : “We urge you to cancel your performances in Israel and not grant your seal of approval to Israel’s ongoing crimes and human rights violations.” 09.03.2017

London, 7 March 2017

Calls mount for Radiohead to cancel Israel gig 

  • Artists for Palestine UK joins growing appeal to Radiohead to cancel Israel gig
  • Palestinian artists say, ‘Stand with the oppressed,  as Brian Eno, Alice Walker and Roger Waters do’
  • Jewish Voice for Peace in South Florida, USA, says, ‘We urge you to cancel, as an inspiration to young people everywhere’

Artists for Palestine UK (APUK), whose Artists’ Pledge for Palestine has over 1200 signatories, called today for UK band Radiohead to cancel their concert in Tel Aviv, scheduled for July 19.
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‘Dear Rabbi Sacks – stop your lies about BDS’

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Robert Cohen, a thoughtful Jewish commentator on the politics of Israel and Palestine, has taken apart a remarkably deceitful animated film, voiced by former chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and produced by an Israeli advertising production company, that is designed to undermine support for BDS among students.  

Cohen’s analysis focuses on the transcript of the voice-over. Artists for Palestine UK invites artists to make a further analysis of the visual imagery which as you will see uses fear-mongering, self-serving and sometimes plain racist caricatures to generate fear and hatred of Palestinians and their supporters.
 
 Below is Cohen’s rebuttal, cross-posted from his own blog .

Dear Jonathan Sacks

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Anish Kapoor gifts Israel a PR coup

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On Monday The Guardian put out a press association report on high-profile sculptor Anish Kapoor’s acceptance of Israel’s $1 million Genesis prize. The prize is awarded by the Genesis Prize Foundation, the office of the Israeli prime minister and the Jewish Agency for Israel and “recognises individuals who have attained excellence and international renown in their fields and whose actions and achievements express a commitment to Jewish values, the Jewish community and the State of Israel”.

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Artists to Fatboy Slim: please don’t play Tel Aviv

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Artists have written to  DJ Fatboy Slim asking him to cancel his forthcoming show in Tel Aviv. Norman Cook, AKA Fatboy Slim, said recently in an interview that his criteria for accepting a gig means it has to ‘fulfil the 5 f’s’  – a first, a favour for a friend,  fun, finance, food. Playing the settler-colonial state may be ‘a first’ for Fatboy, but it’s only going to be ‘fun’ if he ignores the experience of Palestinians  including those within Israel’s borders. We hope he thinks again.

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