Dictating Resistance, the Irish media war on BDS
24 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Cultural Boycott of Apartheid Israel (BDS), Ireland, Media Bias, Palestine, Uncategorized Tags: BDS, End Apartheid, Free Palestine, Justice, Resistance, Solidarity
Reading the commentary in the Irish media following Dervish’s cancellation of their concerts in Israel, one is struck by the contortions journalists go through to condemn the cultural boycott of the apartheid state. (Some of the mistruths and smears are covered here.)
Two aspects of the narrative really jar with me. The first is the obvious, how come these pundits are so concerned with the perceived collective punishment of Israelis not being able to see artists yet are unmoved about the real and brutal collective punishment that Israel subjects the Palestinians to?
Where is their condemnation when Palestinians are murdered, when their houses are demolished, when their rights are trampled on, when they are subjected to apartheid and occupation? Where is their denunciation of Israel’s war crimes and breaches of international law? Where were their columns when over 2,000 Palestinian prisoners recently went on hunger strike to protest against the barbaric conditions they are held in, many of them without charge?
As Israelis marched through Jerusalem on Sunday chanting “Death to all Arabs”, were they busy writing articles damning such racism? Were there handwringing pieces about this from any of the Sunday Independent ‘columnists’? The answer to these questions is, of course, no. The agenda is so firmly skewed towards the oppressor as to almost completely obscure the oppressed and those who are in solidarity with them.
The other point is that the commentary, very strangely, elevates art and artists to a level whereby they are apparently more sensitive than the average human being and are somehow exempt from the same moral code as the rest of us. The erroneous and lazy claim that Dervish, among other artists, were ‘bullied’ into cancelling deprives them of agency and free thought, and in fact is insulting to them.
Is it credible to suggest that raising awareness of the plight of the Palestinian people and one of their chosen tactics in their struggle against apartheid constitutes bullying? Is the premise that presenting this case and asking artists to make a principled decision is intimidation to be taken seriously? Hardly.
I wonder about many of these columnists, did they support the boycott of South Africa? Do they disagree with Mandela and Tutu? There have been many articles and opinion pieces since Dervish cancelled and they have all come from this same angle.
Fintan O’Toole, a respected Irish Times columnist, last week derided the cultural boycott as “a blunt and backward instrument” and wrongly conflates this form of opposition to Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians with anti-Semitism, writing: “Boycotts will always be interpreted as an expression of anti-Semitism and as a prelude to worse attacks.” Really? They will always be interpreted as an expression of anti-Semitism? By whom? Millions of people all over the world who boycott Israeli apartheid in some manner are in no way motivated by such base racism, the very claim is a gross insult to the Palestinian BNC which has called for BDS and to all of those who have signed on to support it.
In the previous line O’Toole says: “In the case of South Africa, the idea was that boycotts might induce shame in white South Africans, causing them to question their support for the system. In the case of Israel, Jewish history means that this effect is impossible.” Are we to understand by this that the history of the Jewish people precludes Israelis from holding up a mirror to their state’s behaviour? That a boycott campaign will be less effective than it was against South African apartheid because of history? Are Israelis, like artists, deprived of agency in this bizarre narrative where boycotts are characterised as weapons and real weapons are ignored? And what of the Israelis who work for BDS, those who stand with their Palestinian sisters and brothers in their struggle? Are they ahistorical?
In Ireland, the anti-apartheid struggle is generally held up as a positive and worthy struggle for rights yet this BDS campaign is currently being vilified in the media here. Indeed, O’Toole opens his column by saying that he supported the cultural boycott of South Africa and goes on to state that boycotts can be problematic, but any engagement with the Palestinian BDS call would demonstrate that it is a tactic to be used strategically and flexibly, he makes no reference to it.
In his tribute to anti-apartheid activist Kader Asmal in 2011, O’Toole wrote: “The anti-apartheid cause to which he devoted his life was one of the great moral crusades of the second half of the 20th century. It was concerned with the obscenity of biologically-based power, of the idea that a few tiny genetic quirks entitled one group of people to rule and condemned others to be subservient.” I agree wholeheartedly with this, as I do with Asmal’s words in the Phoenix magazine supplement “War Crimes in Apartheid Israel” of May 2010: “To have law on our side was to legitimise our struggle in South Africa and begin the long push to delegitimise the apartheid regime. We succeeded and, with Israel, we shall succeed if we have the same determination and pertinacity…It is time to delegitimise this entity that perpetrates nightmarish control over other people.” I believe that anyone honouring Kader Asmal and the anti-apartheid activists should also take the Palestinian BDS campaign seriously.
I cannot understand the cognitive dissonance of supporting the boycott of South African apartheid but railing against the boycott of Israeli apartheid, it is hypocrisy and laziness of thought.
The findings of the Cape Town Session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine are never mentioned, I’m sure most who dismiss the connection between the two apartheid states have neither heard of nor read them.
Why do these commentators never listen to Palestinian voices which are mostly absent even from articles prescribing how they should behave? What would they have Palestinians do to resist apartheid? They condemn physical struggle, they ignore non-violent struggle such as the hunger strikes and demonstrations against the wall, they condemn the cultural boycott.
It seems that all of those who ignore the Palestinians except to censure their modes of resistance ultimately want them to shut up and accept everything Israel throws at them while waiting for the utterly pointless peace process to get them precisely nowhere. They won’t and the BDS campaign, among other strands of struggle, will play a part in ending Israeli apartheid and winning justice for the Palestinian people. None of these journalists will be able to say they contributed when that happens.
I’ll end with a quote I read the other day from Frederick Douglass, the anti-slavery activist, that is relevant to all struggle, not least this one. “Let me give you a word of the philosophy of reforms. The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of struggle….If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without demand. It never did and it never will….”
BDS apartheid until it ends.
Lying About a Rights Based Campaign – Smearing BDS in Ireland
11 May 2012 1 Comment
in Cultural Boycott of Apartheid Israel (BDS), Ireland, Media Bias, Palestine Tags: BDS, End Apartheid, Free Palestine
In the wake of Irish traditional band Dervish’s cancellation of their dates in apartheid Israel, an astonishing campaign of lies and smears has played out in the Irish press- mainly in the Sunday Independent – and has had substantial and deeply worrying contributions from the Irish Minister for Justice and Defence, Alan Shatter.
When the Dervish dates in Israel became known to Palestine solidarity campaigners, DPAI set up a Facebook page, Dervish, Don’t Bring Your Travelling Show to Apartheid Israel, the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) wrote an open letter to the group, musicians supportive of BDS contacted the band and people posted on the band’s Facebook page. There was no abuse of the band, no ‘venom’ directed at them (there never is), there was a concerted campaign to give Dervish information about the terrible situation of the Palestinian people, to tell them about their call for solidarity in the form of BDS and to ask them to join other artists of conscience in refusing to play in Israel. When Dervish cancelled, stating that they had been unaware of the cultural boycott of Israel: “At the time we agreed to these performances we were unaware there was a cultural boycott in place. We now feel that we do not wish to break this boycott. Our decision to withdraw from the concerts reflects our wish to neither endorse nor criticise anyone’s political views in this situation.” (Official Facebook page here), they were congratulated by the IPSC, DPAI, who wrote a letter of thanks, and many other supporters of the Palestinian people. The cancellation, of course, sparked the usual hate-filled posts from zionists and that’s where the ‘venom’ referred to in Dervish’s second statement came from.
Here are some examples of the positive statements made by BDS advocates:
“Respect and thanks for having the courage to refuse breaching the Palestinian call for boycott.”
Raymond Deane, Cultural Liaison Officer IPSC: “Dervish – I salute you for this courageous and morally correct decision. You will now be subject to massive defamation from Zionists and their fellow-travellers – you should see this as proof that you have made the correct decision, because it will reveal to you the viciousness and mendacity of Israel’s apologists.”
Mine: “Well done and thanks Dervish. You have joined a growing list of artists refusing to play for apartheid. You are on the right side of history and with the Palestinian people in their struggle for justice. Respect.”
“Thank you so much for refusing to support apartheid, history will remember artists like you. It is not always easy to do what is right. You are not alone, Nelson Mandela and many other peacemakers have said they themselves cannot feel free until there is an end to the brutal occupation and colonisation of Palestine.”
“This cannot have been an easy time for any of you. I hope one day you play Tel Aviv again with laughter and lightness and when this difficult week is just a dim bad memory. Thank you for not breaking the boycott… you paid a much higher price than most people ever have to. Respect !”
Martin O’ Quigley, IPSC Chair: “Thanks Dervish for not playing to Apartheid. Supporting Human Rights is not expressing hate; supporters of the South African boycott didn’t hate white South Africans, just the policies of the Apartheid regime.”
Some of the negative comments by supporters of Israeli apartheid:
“LMAO at this band attempting to sit on the fence while simultaniously boycotting a country surrounded by a bunch of Arabs that want to see it destroyed. Israel has been at war with the savages that refuse to tollerate Israels existence, yet the world is siding with the intollerant Muslims while demonizing Israel. The world turning against Israel, now was this not prophesied to happen. Everything is right on schedule thanks for doing your part in satans agenda you bunch of lunatics.”
“Congratulations! You are now part of a cynical negative political campaign promoting nothing but hatred. Shame on you.”
“let it be kbown that i have heard that the bds uses some pretty shady tactics to threaten artists to cancel shows in the name of peace. oddly, much like hamas.”
“Wow Dervish! UNLIKE! Once again proving how anti-Semitic the Irish are! Please do not come back to Montana, we prefer real world music! I will do my best Not to promote you at every opportunity. Booooo Hisssss…get off the Stage!!!”
” white liberals. jeeeesus. take care all. i dont even like Dervish”
“For shame, Dervish, for so ignorantly taking a side in this misguided movement. Your statement that “Our decision to withdraw from the concerts reflects our wish to neither endorse nor criticise anyone’s political views in this situation” is so absurd as to be comical. How, by joining a boycott, are you not endorsing a position? Way to land on the wrong side of history. Pathetic.”
“this is the day the nusic of dervish die for me”
The posts above are representative of the reaction on the Dervish page and absolutely refute any smears against IPSC members and those standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people. They make Alan Shatter’s press release of 4th May look even more baseless when the evidence is there for anyone to see on the Internet. Instead of doing this and working on the basis of factual information, Shatter instead chose to write an outrageous press release accusing the IPSC (erroneously referred to as the IPSG) of “cyber bullying” and infringing on Irish citizens’ rights to travel. He also makes a link between Al Quaeda and the IPSC that is so ridiculous as to be laughable, except that this is a minister, in our government, paid for by our taxes, charged with upholding justice and protecting Irish citizens, IPSC members included. The statement defies belief and has been reported as fact in Irish newspapers, their journalists too lazy to actually investigate and report properly and accurately. The Irish Times and Independent are guilty of this and also claiming that there is no ‘official’ boycott of Israel, thereby displaying the usual orientalism of completely ignoring Palestinian voices. Meanwhile Shatter employs the all too familiar and predictable zionist tactic of mentioning Syria, demonstrating a profound inability to comprehend the simple tenet that the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign is just that, a campaign in solidarity with PALESTINE, not Syria…… rocket science and all that. By the way, his concern for Syria doesn’t extend to the Golan Heights….
While Palestinians live under occupation, oppression, siege, are frequent victims of Israeli war crimes and while over 2,000 of them are currently on hunger strike to protest the illegal practice of detention without charge or trial, Shatter has been silent. Could it be that the Minister for Justice has no sense of justice when it comes to Palestinians?
In the wake of the Dervish cancellation, there has been much hysteria in the Irish media, accompanied by increasingly poor standards of journalism – even journalists with no apparent pro-Israel agenda have managed to mischaracterise both BDS and the campaign around the Dervish tour. Above all else, they keep spectacularly missing the bloody point. Palestinians living through their 64th year of brutal occupation, betrayed by the so-called international community, have called for a comprehensive boycott of Israel – that’s their call, that’s one of the means by which they choose to resist the apartheid imposed on them. Solidarity groups support that call, that’s what solidarity means.
Raymond Deane, IPSC Cultural Liaison Officer, was interviewed by the ignorant and boorish Marc Colman on Newstalk radio (about 20 mins in) and subjected to personal attack by the uninformed and rude Eamon Delaney, both of whom trotted out the usual zionist cliches, familiar to any observer of the defenders of Israel and rehearsed mutliple times on this blog. He was ‘accused’ of calling for the boycott himself, then it was claimed that it was a Hamas led boycott. Delaney even said that Israel shouldn’t be ‘picked on’ as it is a country made up of people who are white and European originally, very telling.
The thing about democracy is that, of course, everyone is entitled to an opinion but let’s make them based on knowledge not empty rhetoric or lazy thinking. If you’re going to be against the cultural boycott, at least be informed as to where it came from, what it entails, how it fits into the struggle, the truth about Israel’s constant repression of Palestinian culture. What we have seen here is the usual knee-jerk reaction of Israel’s supporters, who often don’t know what it is exactly they are against, all they know is that they will defend the apartheid state no matter what.
As with all the BDS campaigns I have seen, there is no harrassment of those who would cross the picket line, there is however a sincere and very urgent campaign to educate them and try to persuade them not to endorse apartheid. This is what campaigning for justice and human rights looks like, it’s what it looked like in the campaign agaisnt South African apartheid. That the Irish Minister for Justice either cannot or refuses to see this is disturbing. That journalists can produce copy based on lies, inaccuracies and mistruths is worrying.
This is the IPSC’s official response to Minister Shatter.
The Palestinian led cultural boycott is growing every year, more and more artists are choosing not to perform for apartheid Israel. It is an honourable campaign and one I am proud to be part of, as should all involved especially the artists who make the decision to join.
BDS until apartheid ends – if you don’t like it, then let’s see your work to end injustice.
35 Irish Parliamentarians Sign Petition On Palestinian Prison Hunger Strike
09 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Palestine, Palestinian Prisoners Tags: BDS, Free Palestine, Hunger Strike
35 Oireachtas members sign petition on mass Palestinian prison hunger strike
35 Oireachtas members including independents and Deputies and Senators from all political parties and groups in the Dáil and Seanad have signed their names to a petition calling for an immediate response to the ongoing mass hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Tomorrow a cross party group of TDS will attempt to raise the matter in the Dáil under “Topical issues”.
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Trade, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn has welcomed the show of political unity. He said:
” Official figures show that over 1,500 Palestinian Prisoners have embarked on a hunger strike in protest against their conditions and Israel’s use of administrative detention. The majority began their protest on April 17th, but there are several who have been without food for much longer. Two individuals, Bilal Diab and Tha’er Halahlah, are in severe medical danger having both been without food for over 70 days.
The prisoner support and human rights association, Addameer, states that 20% of the total Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (and as high as 40% of the male population) have been arrested by the Israeli authorities. There are currently 4,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and around 300 of these are being held in administrative detention. Administrative detention is a military practice that allows authorities to indefinitely detain people without charge or trial and without presenting any evidence against them.
The conditions imposed on prisoners and detainees are shocking. It is usual for prisoners to be held in solitary confinement and frequently denied visits from their family. Those in solitary confinement are held in a cell no larger than two and a half square metres, and which contains only a mattress and blanket. Detainees are permitted only one hour of sunlight and fresh air per day, and have their legs and hands cuffed during this time. In one of the most reported cases, Abdullah Barghouti has spent nine years in solitary confinement”
He continued:
“Acknowledging these factors, the 35 Oireachtas members call for an immediate response to the Palestinian non-violent protests. The current situation of Palestinians in Israeli jails is unacceptable. We call on both the Israeli government and international actors to recognise the following demands of prisoners:
1) That International Law and its provisions with regard to administrative detention are respected.
2) That Israel ends its policy of administrative detention.
3) That Israel ends its policy of keeping prisoners in solitary confinement.
4) That prisoners are allowed to see their families.”
The Oireachtas members who signed the petition are:
Gerry Adams TD Senator David Norris
Minister of State, Joe Costello TD Minister of State, Jan O Sullivan TD
Richard Boyd Barrett TD Olivia Mitchell TD
Robert Troy TD Thomas Pringle TD
Mary Lou McDonald TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD
Gerald Nash TD Senator Katherine Zappone
Maureen O Sullivan TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD
Michael Colreavy TD Senator Ivana Bacik
Seán Crowe TD Pearse Doherty TD
Finian McGrath TD Senator Terry Leyden
Dessie Ellis TD Martin Ferris TD
Senator Susan O Keefe Sandra McLellan TD
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn TD Jonathan O’Brien TD
Patrick Nulty TD Joan Collins TD
Brian Stanley TD Peadar Tóibín TD
Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh Senator Michael Mullins
Senator Jim Walsh Senator Kathryn Reilly
Senator David Cullinane
For more information on Palestinian prisoners, see Addameer. Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
Like this:
Shit totally fucking hysterical Zionists say
08 May 2012 2 Comments
in Cultural Boycott of Apartheid Israel (BDS), Palestine Tags: BDS, End Apartheid, Free Palestine, Justice
Normally this blog is pretty serious as I generally write about the terrible injustices perpetrated against the Palestinian people by apartheid Israel. I write a lot about BDS and Don’t Play Apartheid Israel (DPAI)’s Facebook pages calling on musicians not to play in Israel and on those pages, as well as official band pages, the hasbara hysterics come out in force if there’s even a whiff of a cancellation. There is an amazing amount of racism, bullying, wailing and outright lies to be found wherever the Zionists congregate, I’ve written up some of the threats and vile campaigns against artists thinking of or actually cancelling here and here, as well as the targetting of activists. The racism is beyond contempt and is characteristic of much of the Zionist discourse around BDS when it comes to gigs in apartheid Israel. Also typical is abject self-pity where the cancellation of a concert is greeted with hysterical claims of “collective punishment” and “victimisation” and those who previously claimed that politics and music are totally unconnected then scream about how the artists are supporting Palestinian”terror” etc.
Tellingly those who see a small infringement of their privilege as collective punishment have absolutely no problem with the actual and illegal collective punishment of the Palestinian people, particularly those in Gaza. The only injustice that matters is the perceived injustice of not being able to see a band live. Such hysteria, along with the endless invocation of somewhere else activists should focus on (Libya last year, Syria at the moment, Iran always) and the ubiquitous pinkwashing, are straight from the hasbara manual – read enough of it and you will truly understand the sensation of boring into your own skull with a drill.
The final piece of the jigsaw involves enumerating Israel’s ‘accomplishments’ as if to say: look we’re civilised, we’ve DONE GREAT STUFF, so let’s not let a 64 years of occupation, ethnic cleansing, apartheid and war crimes put you off playing here, it’s for peace you know.
If all of the above has not exorcised enough demons for the hasbara poster, they can, and usually do, resort to name-calling and attempted bullying, often accompanied by outlandish claims about those who support BDS being ‘funded’. This is especially ironic as it is the hasbarists who are actually funded to spout bullshit on social networking sites. A tactic I’ve noticed regularly is the semi-competent use of Google and then a reference to something personal like where you come from or where you work in an effort to intimidate – as most people with access to even the most basic technology can use Google and better, this constitutes an epic fail. It reminds me of my last trip to Palestine when I spent hours in Ben Gurion airport being ‘accused’ of working for an NGO – yes Israel is that warped.
Irish band Dervish have just cancelled their dates in Israel and this has thrown up the usual hasbara detritus on their Facebook page, amidst which there is also much unintended hilarity. I posted some of this on my own page and with some friends, decided that it would be fun to look at some of the more comical zionist ranting, hence the profane name for this blog post.
The post that inspired this:
“LMAO at this band attempting to sit on the fence while simultaniously boycotting a country surrounded by a bunch of Arabs that want to see it destroyed. Israel has been at war with the savages that refuse to tollerate Israels existence, yet the world is siding with the intollerant Muslims while demonizing Israel. The world turning against Israel, now was this not prophesied to happen. Everything is right on schedule thanks for doing your part in satans agenda you bunch of lunatics.”
Followed by:
“To all Jews and Israelis arguing on this page, lets just give up. Yeah guys we need to stop the pretense and call it like is is. Yes Israel is an evil empire, led secretly by Satan and Darth Vader, its merely a small part of the Jewish plot to rule the world, and kill unicorns. Lets just come clean about murdering Palestinians in their sleep, ooh and also drinking the blood of young catholic boys. hey I personally crucified Jesus. and It was Israelis who put snakes in Ireland in the first place. I mean common this is the only narrative that these people will except. Hell I truly doubt that these educated Irish and Europeans, even truly want peace and brotherhood between Jews and Muslims, because then they’d simply have nothing to protest against and feel all self important.”
A deranged ‘accusation’ against me by Irish4Israel (you wish some of this shit was true….)
“Rich from you Zoe, One of the major proponents of Arabist propaganda well funded by oil on Irish facebook pages.”
Putting things in perspective for Dervish:
“YOU are the terrorist bomb of the modern times. They turn to your kindness and humanity and your music, and turn it into a weapon. It hurts Israel where it hurts most- in the morale, in the love Israelis have for art and music, in their wishes to live peacefully and quietly, to go catch a show, have a drink with friends. Friends who can definitely be Palestinian, if it wasn’t for decades and maybe centuries of Palestinians educated to hate the bad Israeli oppressor.”
The timeless classic, references to computer parts:
“Please also boycott all computers and mobile phones as they contain Israeli-invented components!!”
“and if I failed to convince you to drop the case, and you’r still overzealous about this whole boycott freedom fighting trend, be true with yourself- make sure u boycott everything:– no more Windows OS, no more Apple comps (since they recently opened an R&D center in israel!!), no more intel chips (all developed in ISRAEL), no more cell phones with cameras (INVENTED IN ISRAEL), no more instant messaging (INVENTED BY two 17 year old ISRAELIS) and def no more FACEBOOK, for it is owned by a JEW! but aye, i guess the end justifies the means.. pfff”
Zionist ranting is not complete without multiple references to Haaamaaaaaaaaaaaasssss:
“let it be kbown that i have heard that the bds uses some pretty shady tactics to threaten artists to cancel shows in the name of peace. oddly, much like hamas.”
*All typos, venom and lunacy are posters’ own. SIC
IPSC Open Letter to Dervish: please don’t perform in Apartheid Israel next June
27 Apr 2012 1 Comment
in Cultural Boycott of Apartheid Israel (BDS), Palestine Tags: BDS, End Apar, End Apartheid, Justice
This is the open letter written by Raymond Deane, Cultural Liaison Officer of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) to Irish traditional group Dervish asking them to cancel their dates in apartheid Israel June 2012.
DPAI (Don’t Play Apartheid Israel) Facebook page here: Dervish, Don’t Bring Your Travelling Show to Apartheid Israel
OPEN LETTER TO DERVISH
Dear members of Dervish (Kathy Jordan, Brian McDonagh, Liam Kelly, Tom Morrow, Shane Mitchell and Michael Holmes):
Many lovers of Irish music have been deeply shocked and disappointed to learn of your plan to tour Israel next June, despite the 2006 Palestinian call for an international cultural and academic boycott of the Israeli state until it abides by international law.
On this tour you will be joined by the Irish band FullSet, which boasts that it has “already shared a stage with some of the hottest names in Celtic music, such as Moya Brennan, Lúnasa…, Andy Irvine and Dónal Lunny.”
This is deeply ironic, because Irvine and Lunny – together with Christy Moore, Sharon Shannon, Damien Dempsey, Ronan Browne, Jimmy McCarthy, and many other giants of Irish music (and over 200 other creative and performing artists) – have signed a pledge “not to avail of any invitation to perform or exhibit in Israel… until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.”
This means that if you perform in Israel you will be betraying both the Palestinian people and many of your most respected colleagues. You will be manipulated by the state of Israel to whitewash the utter criminality of its occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands.
In 2005 an Israeli spokesman asserted that “We see culture as a propaganda tool of the first rank, and…do not differentiate between propaganda and culture.” [Ha’aretz, September 2005]
Here are some examples (among many) of the way that Israel represses the expression and dissemination of Palestinian culture:
* In 2002, Israel prevented the Palestinian poets Zakaria Mohammed and Ghassan Zaqtan from travelling to Ireland to read their work.
* In May 2009, Israeli soldiers prevented the opening of the Palestine Festival of Literature in Jerusalem. In April 2011, the venue hosting the final event of that year’s Festival was attacked with tear gas by the Israeli army.
* In May 2010, the Israeli authorities deported Spain’s most famous clown, Ivan Prado, who was planning to establish a clown festival in Ramallah.
* In summer 2011, Israeli commandos assaulted the Freedom Theatre in occupied Jenin, arresting several of its members.
* Also last year, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu suspended Israel’s financial contribution to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation which oversees the protection of the world’s cultural heritage. This was to “punish” the majority of the world’s states for having voted to admit Palestine to the UN agency. This constitutes an Israeli cultural boycott of most of the world. For the same reason, Israel larcenously suspended tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority.
If you cancel your trip to Israel, thus incidentally saving the members of FullSet from the infamy of breaching the Palestinian cultural boycott so early in their career, you will have joined the likes of Roger Waters, Elvis Costello, Cassandra Wilson, and Carlos Santana who, having at first agreed to perform in that country, decided that it was of greater importance to support the just struggle of the Palestinian people against Israeli oppression.
The governments of the EU see Israel as “a strategic partner” and offer it generous trading and diplomatic privileges. When governments refuse to take human rights violations seriously, then it is up to civil society to act. Please be on the side of justice: please cancel your tour of Israel!
Raymond Deane
Cultural Liaison Officer
Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Meanwhile, the organiser of the Dervish performance posted on the Facebook page:
I’m certainly not a politician and responding to such attacks is not my cup of tea. I just want to share few things about me and get the right to expose my point of view.
I’m straggling for piece all my life. There are hundreds of thousands like me in my country. My personal way of contribution for piece and coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians was not demonstrations of any kind but creating an excellent ensemble consist of Arabs and Jews. We performed for about 15 years all around the globe. The idea was not a political one as we looked for the best musicians in order to make the best music. People have always applauded not only to the music but also to the fact that Israelis and Palestinians can create art together. We have not tried to change anybody in the band. Every one kept his own political ideas…but we shared some incredible love and passion to music and deep friendship. The project survived and gained a lot of success because we really believed music should not be played for political reasons and saw our music as something that brings people together and heals wounds.
I’ve invited Dervish to bring their music over not to support any political idea. Performing in Israel by Dervish does not mean anything about what they think or feel about the conflict. I’m sure that when they will receive an invitation to perform at the Palestinian territory, they will happily accept it.
Please people; try to accept that music transcends barriers. It’s not necessarily meant to support or criticize any political systems.
PACBI (Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel) has issued a very strong statement on normalisation and we adhere to that, it’s below if you’d like to read. We are asking Dervish to respect this BDS call, stand with other artists of conscience who have done so, stand with the oppressed Palestinian people in their struggle for justice and stand against Israeli apartheid. The Israeli state uses performances there as a means to whitewash its crimes against humanity, Dervish will be part of that if they play. With respect, the Palestinian call for solidarity has primacy here and we reiterate our call for Dervish NOT to play for apartheid.
Lies and Hysteria in the Campaign Against BDS – BDS is biting
27 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Cultural Boycott of Apartheid Israel (BDS), Palestine Tags: BDS, End Apartheid, Justice, Palestine
A poster on the DPAI facebook page Red Hot Chili Peppers: Defy Injustice, Cancel Israel brought this group to my attention: Creative Community For Peace , (CCFP) ” a nonprofit seeking to counter artist boycotts of Israel”. Ironically the poster had read about the RHCP page in this article “Music moguls to artists: Don’t boycott Israel” and joined the BDS page, thanks for advertising for us, zionists! The article recounts a meeting with over thirty “leading music executives, talent agents and entertainment lawyers” organised by CCFP as a means to counter the growing BDS movement which has had much success in appealing to artists and, through information and dialogue, persuading them to either cancel their dates in apartheid Israel or to pledge not to perform there.
According to the article, the meeting started off with slides of many of the artists who have cancelled gigs in Israel (testament to the effectiveness of BDS) and then went on to trot out some familiar lies about the purpose of the campaign. These lies are not new to BDs campaigners and activists and are to be found wherever zionist supporters of apartheid Israel attempt to smear those who would stand with the Palestinian people in their struggle for justice. As there are propaganda (hasbara) manuals and guides produced by Israel and its patrons, the lies are readily to hand but are as transparent as they are predictable. One of the primary lies about the BDS movement is that it is: “a very well-organized, very well-funded movement,” – the irony of this, coming from the Israeli state and its paid propagandists, is delicious.
Another falsehood trotted out is that: “it’s not about debating Israel’s policies. It’s really about undermining our right to be a state for Jews.” This could not be further from the truth, the BDS campaign is all about debating and highlighting Israel’s policies of apartheid, ethnic cleansing, home demolition, war crimes and imprisonment. BDS is about fighting Israel’s crimes against humanity. When faced with real debate and facts, zionists retreat behind the well-worn accusation of anti-semitism, while simultaneously refusing to enter into real discussion. Defending the indefensible is impossible you see, so to counter a rights-based campaign rooted in truth and a struggle for equality, the only option is lies and smears. Evoking the Nazis is an especially debased tactic and does such disservice to those who were murdered by that terrible regime as to demonstrate that it is zionism itself that is anti-semitic. As I have written numerous times, these tactics are nothing new but I do believe their frequency is making them increasingly less credible, even to those who might ordinarily be amenable to them.
A further tactic and one that is less distasteful than those above, but is certainly more pathetic, is to enumerate Israel’s ‘achievements’ as a counter to the boycott. Invented something great, brought medical aid somewhere, done something big in technology? Well that’s ok then, we’ll overlook your dropping of white phosphorous on unarmed civilians, we’ll ignore the thousands of children you have killed and maimed etc….. really? All that cash and expertise and this is a strategy? It’s the indefensible you see….
Amidst all the falsehoods in the article (I’ve given myself a headache reading it), there are real whoppers about Macy Gray and her performance in Israel, among them that she was the subject of death threats during efforts to dissuade her from playing as well as this bizarre and racist claim: “As an African-American, Gray was particularly sensitive to accusations of apartheid”, of course no-one accused Gray of practising apartheid, how absurd! The apartheid nature of the Israeli state was pointed out to her, naturally, and she saw it for herself when there. The article goes on to say that she met Palestinian and Israeli groups but completely omits her later comments that she was mislead and regrets breaking the boycott. Selective hysteria indeed.
This meeting, the newly formed CCFP, the Reut Institute report and the paying of hasbarists to troll the internet and post hate about the Palestinian people and rubbish about Israel’s ‘democracy’, prove that BDS is biting, and big time. At the meeting, Ran Geffen-Lifshitz, CEO of Media Men Group, a music publishing company based in Tel Aviv stated: “If you boycott Israel in art, the next thing is boycotting Israeli manufactured goods, then a boycott of Israel as a tourist destination.” Absolutely! Along with the cultural and academic boycott of Israel comes the consumer boycott, and if you must fly to Tel Aviv, make it to visit Palestine.
Post script: Thanks to the CCFP for providing us with the roll of shame of those who played for apartheid. The BDS movement also has a growing list of those who have chosen the right side of history, who have not sold out their consciences, who have acted with integrity and stood with the Palestinian people. I know which list I’d prefer to be on.
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Targeting BDS Activists, the Price of Dissent
21 Apr 2012 2 Comments
in Cultural Boycott of Apartheid Israel (BDS), Palestine Tags: BDS, End Apartheid, Free Palestine, Justice
The Palestinian led BDS campaign against apartheid Israel has many supporters worldwide and they are often the target of attempted bullying by zionists, particularly in online fora. Indeed, Israel pays students to spread hasbara (propaganda) on social networking sites. When artists decide to cancel dates in apartheid Israel, or when they make statements in support of BDS, they are usually subject to an onslaught of hatred from zionists on facebook, twitter etc -much of the commentary is so racist and vile as to astonish. Some examples include the vitriol directed at Joker (Dubstep) and the support for war crimes and apartheid on display on the Arch Enemy page. The BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) group Don’t Play Apartheid Israel (DPAI) has created many facebook pages to support thePalestinian call for BDS and the administrators of those pages regularly have to delete hate speech.
The latest example of such personal targeting was posted on the Red Hot Chilli Peppers: Defy Injustice, Cancel Israel page this week 17 April) and is aimed at Israeli activist Tali Shapiro. In a blog about Shapiro’s open and public letter to the RHCP asking them not to play apartheid Israel, the blogger ‘BDS Gone Bad’ accuses her of dishonesty in this correspondence (while misspelling the band’s name…). “But Shapiro does not adress the subject honestly’ as an activist with a very clear and agressive agenda (legitimate as such), but first of all as a fan.” Bizarrely the blogger has also gone into Shapiro’s personal facebook page and looked for bands she ‘likes’, as many of these have been booked to play apartheid Israel at some stage, the alleged correlation is that Tali Shapiro cannot be a fan of a band she doesn’t ‘like’ on facebook or has recently ‘liked’ on facebook. Confused yet? I know I am. You see, the blogger had access to the page of a self-declared activist and someone who opens her letter to the RHCP thus:
“Dear Anthony, Flea, Chad and Josh,
My name is Tali. I’m a citizen of Israel from the privileged side of the apartheid, who supports the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions on the state of Israel. It doesn’t take much to get me to talk about the atrocities I witness here everyday, but I’d rather make it as brief as possible, so you’ll actually take the time to read this.”
So, the opening sentence of the letter states Shapiro’s support for BDS, it’s been published widely and her facebook page is open…..dishonesty? Absolutely not. The attack is, as usual, an attempt to obfuscate and to smear those who work for BDS as dishonest or being ‘political’. The notion that being political is a negative thing is a major component of the Israeli state narrative against solidarity actions and campaigns. It is constantly used as an accusation which is laughable since NOT being political in the face of the apartheid, occupation, ethnic cleansing, imprisonment and war crimes inflicted by Israel on the Palestinian people would be shameful.
Tali Shapiro is a committed BDS activist in a campaign that is gaining traction all the time. While there are people who have to be paid to spread propaganda for Israel and those who support the status quo as it enables their privilege at the expense of the rights of the Palestinians, there are many, many more Palestinians, Israelis, and people from all over the world who struggle together for justice for Palestine. BDS is biting, these attacks testify to it.
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Dear Renaud Garcia-Fons, Don’t Play Apartheid Israel – Campagne BDS France
19 Apr 2012 1 Comment
in Cultural Boycott of Apartheid Israel (BDS), Palestine Tags: BDS, End Apartheid, Palestine
French composer and double-bass player Renaud Garcia-Fons is scheduled at the White City festival in Tel Aviv, apartheid Israel on May 6th. This is the English translation of an open letter written to him by the French BDS Campaign,Campagne BDS France. Don’t Play Apartheid Israel (DPAI) has made a facebook calling on all the artists scheduled to perform at the festival to cancel: Don’t Play Tel Aviv White City – It’s Today’s Sun City
Paris, 17 April 2012
Dear Renaud Garcia-Fons,
On 6 May next, you plan to give a concert in Tel Aviv at the “White City music festival”.
We are surprised to learn that you, who are attached to the respect for human dignity, would perform in a country which has been mocking international law for more than sixty years. We recall your participation in an “Orchestra for Peace” at the “Human Solidarity Concert” in Paris in 2002.
Miguel Angel Estrella, who was at your side during that concert, is today a member of the support committee of the Russell Tribunal for Palestine. The conclusions* of that tribunal at its recent session in Cape Town, South Africa, are unambiguous: Israel is responsible for grave violations of international law and is guilty of the crime of apartheid.
Renaud Garcia-Fons, are you aware that, while hundreds of music-lovers would be able to enjoy your talent in Tel Aviv, thousands of others would be deprived of it, being relegated behind a separation wall?
For decades the Palestinian people have been victims of Israel’s apartheid policy, which scandalously curtails their most elementary rights: their access to water, to education, to medical care, their freedom of movement.
A people under colonolisation in the West Bank, a people under a blockade in Gaza, a people under discrimination in Israel, added to the refugees whose right to return was recognized by the United Nations but never implemented by Israel. The international community closes its eyes while the Israeli government behaves with total impunity: its killing of hundreds of civilians in 2009 during the “Cast Lead” attack on Gaza; its constant military incursions in the West Bank and its military check-points there; the numerous inequalities between Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel regarding medical care, work, and public services; the thousands of uprooted Palestinians living as refugees all over the world; the peaceful activists participating in the Freedom Flotilla in 2010, killed in cold blood.
Faced with such injustice, Palestinian civil society decided in 2005 to launch the BDS campaign: boycott-divestment-sanctions against Israel as long as it does not respect international law. This movement, inspired by the struggle of the South Africans against apartheid, has now taken on international dimensions and the boycott of the State of Israel is growing everywhere.
Today, numerous artists have chosen not to perform in Israel as long as that state does not change its policies. In the film world, Ken Loach, Jean-Luc Godard, Meg Ryan, Dustin Hoffman and Mike Leigh, along with musicians such as Roger Waters, Brian Eno, Annie Lennox, Carlos Santana, Elvis Costllo, Gil Scott-Heron, Gorillaz, The Pixies, Massive Attack, Gilles Vigneault, Vanessa Paradis, have all cancelled their appearances which were scheduled in different Israeli cities.
By going to perform in Israel you would be participating in the normalisation of a colonial situation. Please don’t help to close the eyes of French citizens by acting as if nothing unacceptable is happening over there. We can readily imagine that you were unaware of the situation on the ground, but from now on you can no longer say “I didn’t know!”.
If you would like to have more details about the policies of the Israeli government, we would be glad to provide them.
Dear Renaud Garcia-Fons, we appeal to you to join the artists who are boycotting Israel as long as that state refuses to respect international law, and to cancel your concert at the festival in Tel Aviv.
With best wishes,
BDS French Campaign
CICP
21 ter rue Voltaire
75011 Paris
As the ‘International Community’ Fails Palestine Yet Again, BDS is Crucial
05 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Cultural Boycott of Apartheid Israel (BDS), Palestine Tags: BDS, End Apartheid, Justice, Palestine
Seeing the decision by the ICC not to pursue Israel for war crimes committed in Gaza in 2008/09, it is again clear that the ‘international community’ and most of its organs have no interest in any action that might disturb Israel’s hegemony and impunity. They said nothing while over 1,400 people were slaughtered in Gaza in just 22 days, thousands more maimed, made homeless, and they have waited three years to announce that they can now not seek justice for those people. It is an outrage, they have deemed Palestine not to be a state, have they also deemed the Palestinians not to be people? War crimes against them not to be worthy of prosecution?
Meanwhile Netanyahu is trying to ‘legalise’ more illegal colonies, the Bedouin people are being ethnically cleansed from the Negev and children burn to death in Gaza because of powercuts caused by the barbaric siege.
In the face of all this illegality, brutality and abject support for Israel by the US, the UK, the EU – Palestinian civil society leads the way in resisting apartheid and international solidarity suppports it. The BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement is a core part of this resistance and its importance is growing and is more and more necessary. As apartheid South Africa was subject to an international boycott, so must Israel be until there is justice for Palestine. A major part of BDS is the cultural boycott and there is much focus on musicians scheduled to play in Israel.
Don’t Play Apartheid Israel (DPAI) has created the following BDS pages calling on artists not to play apartheid Israel, asking them to say no to normalisation, no to appropriation of culture, no to occupation, ethnic cleansing and war crimes. The more people who ‘like’ these pages, the more weight they have with the artists and the greater the possibility of them cancelling. The global solidarity movement for Palestine is huge, let’s show our strength and our numbers and let artists know that no-one should play for apartheid and everyone should stand for justice for the Palestinian people.
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Madonna’s Concert Against Peace
Don’t Play Tel Aviv White City – It’s Today’s Sun City
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Defy Injustice, Cancel Israel
Lenny Kravitz: Are you gonna go apartheid’s way?
BDS all the way!
The Kimberley Process – A Charade, no human rights here.
03 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Israeli Blood Diamonds, Palestine, War Tags: Justice
Today there was a webchat hosted by the US Chair of the Kimberley Process (KP) Gillian Milovanovic, billed as an opportunity for the public to become familiarised with the KP, to “Learn about what it is and what it means.” Human rights activists concerned by the anomaly in the KP whereby cut and polished diamonds which fund human rights abuses are able to evade the process and can be sold to unsuspecting consumers as “conflict free” tried to join the discussion. People were specifically concerned with Israeli Blood Diamonds being outside the KP and therefore being available on the market despite providing a major source of funding for the Israeli military which stands accused of war crimes by the UN Human Rights Council.
Last month over twenty human rights group issued a statement calling on the Kimberley Process to ban the trade in diamonds from Israel. Human rights groups believe that if jewellers continue profiteering from and facilitating the trade in Israeli blood diamonds they will cause irreparable damage the diamond brand image which consumers are increasingly associating with bloodshed and war crimes.
Although ‘everyone’ was invited to join the discussion on the live webchat and on twitter, it soon became clear that those with questions about Israeli Blood Diamonds were not welcome to the conversation. Initially a few questions got through and were displayed on the ticker but not answered and then they stopped being loaded and instead spent upwards of twenty minutes “awaiting moderation.” Finally, the webchat was ended fifteen minutes early, due no doubt to embarrassment at the process being exposed as a charade. For while they could censor our questions, they couldn’t censor twitter and tweets were flying up the ticker on the side with the #IsraeliBloodDiamonds tag, decrying the censorship and sham.
As the organiser of this action, Seán Clinton, said: “You can be sure that many of the movers and shakers in the global diamond industry were following the discussion from the sideline – if they didn’t know before this that Israeli Blood Diamonds are an issue they do now.”
Here’s a selection of the tweets to the KP Chair. Click on images to enlarge.
Later some of those involved in the censored discussion commented on the CO.NX Facebook pager, to which they gave this implausible response: “CO.NX Thank you to everyone who participated in today’s webchat with Kimberley Process Chair Ambassador Milovanovic. We realize that there were a number of questions that we did not have a chance to answer, and we encourage you to visit the Kimberley Process website (http://www.kimberleyprocess.com/) for detailed information on the scope and purpose of the initiative.”
Here are some of the responses to this:
For more information about Israeli Blood Diamonds read here.
