Palestine

January 4, 2013December 11, 2020

Stanley Jordan – “Love and Light” Isn’t Enough to End Apartheid

Stanley Jordan: You Don’t Get to Peace without Real Solidarity

by Rima Merriman

After putting BDS activists through their paces for eight straight days of discussion on his Facebook page, noted Jazz musician Stanley Jordan announced on January 1st, that he had decided not to support the call of the Palestinian civil society to boycott the upcoming Red Sea Jazz Festival this month in Eilat, Israel.

In his announcement, Jordan referred to a “spirited online discussion and much deep soul-searching” but did not give a reason for his decision. Instead, he avowed his dedication to “world peace” and pledged to demonstrate to the many activists who had contributed to his Facebook thread with over 800 posts of information and considered arguments – including two messages from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott – that he had “heard” them and was ready to make others hear their impassioned plea. Jordan had concluded that that the best way “I could serve the cause would be to do my performance as scheduled, but separately organize an event in a major city in the United States to raise funds and awareness of the plight of the Palestinian people. The time frame will be in September or October 2013.”

Though not unexpected, that “conclusion” was problematic for many BDS advocates. The discussion on the thread ranged over a wide variety of topics triggered by Jordan’s questions. However, there was one central issue that kept rearing its head: What does it really mean to be in solidarity with an oppressed people?

Besides Jordan, some artists, like Native American poet and musician Joy Harjo, who are approached by PACBI and asked to heed the Palestinian people’s call to honor the academic and cultural boycott – that is, to stand in solidarity – too often arrogantly assume that they can demonstrate their support by performing in Israel and then gesturing to Palestinians through other means of their own choosing, for example by arranging for a parallel performance in the occupied territory. That’s an offer that PACBI, which is represented by over 170 civil society organizations and is growing in international support daily, categorically refuses. The list of artists who have respected the call includes Santana, Cat Power, Elvis Costello, Cassandra Wilson, Massive Attack, Jello Biafra, Faithless, Leftfield, Gorillaz, Pixies, Gil Scott Heron, and many more that have refused to play for apartheid and is growing.

It is well known that Israel utilizes international artists as part of a clear strategy of normalization to try and legitimize settler colonialism, occupation, and apartheid. “Branding Israel” is a propaganda campaign financed by the well-heeled Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to showcase a side of Israel more palatable to the world. PACBI asks artists not to be complicit in these state efforts by not performing in Israeli institutions. Those who do not heed the call often end up regretting their decision, as has been expressed by Macy Gray, Pete Seeger, Richard Montoya and others.

Jordan is now trying to justify his decision by expressing inchoate beliefs about the power of his art to achieve “world peace” by “changing consciousness” while propounding the notion that the boycott undermines the freedom of the artist and limits the transformative power he possesses over his audience. By doing so, he has elevated the status as an artist as though he is ‘above’ human rights. True change of consciousness comes when the privileged use their power to stand in solidarity with the oppressed, not in telling them how best to resist – as he also tried in his comments on Facebook.

At several stages in the discussion, Jordan outlined his dilemma: “This situation and the information I’ve received has really moved me, and I regret that we have this sticking point about the boycott being the only acceptable form of help.” Activists pointed out that the boycott is one of the most effective ways to peacefully protest Israel’s deadly subjugation of Palestinians and one that is called for by those being oppressed. But more importantly, they explained what an act of solidarity actually demands. Adrian Boutureira Sansberro spelled this out most powerfully in his comments to Jordan:

“Firstly, we are in solidarity with the oppressed, not the oppressor. Secondly, being in solidarity entails being able to take direction from those one claims to be in solidarity with. Learning how to take direction, as to what is it that those we are in solidarity with wish us to do, is a huge aspect of shifting the relationships of power between the oppressed and the oppressor. It is also a way to really come face to face with our own true commitment and power issues. To do as we wish, is not being in solidarity. It is practicing supremacist charity. I say supremacist, because even when people claim to be in solidarity, they refuse to relinquish their own power and privilege as individuals. They refuse to surrender their own interests. They refuse to recognize that the collective must always be greater than the individual, or we are not in solidarity at all. We are then independent actors who cannot accept taking direction for whatever reason.”

In the end, Jordan was unable to relate to the above careful and important distinctions. He remained stuck on the notion of “help” in the sense of charity – thus his proposed charity concert in the US. “I would like to work in alliance with those who support the Palestinian people and, in the true spirit of alliance, have it be understood that there may be differences of opinion on how best to accomplish that.” Many people told Jordan that he could choose to do his own thing to show a sense of empathy or “an alliance” with the cause (as opposed to what is being requested of him specifically), but they also explained that such a choice would not be as effective and would certainly not be in solidarity in the true sense of the word, which is why Jordan’s decision not to support the boycott provoked Sylvia Posadas, one of his interlocutors to write simply: “So sorry you cannot fully support Palestinian people at this time. You have not been requested to give charity, but support for their ethical choice of tactic. In time, perhaps you will understand what ‘solidarity’ really means.”

SOURCE

2012 – A Great Year for Cultural Boycott of Apartheid Israel

by DPAI (UK, Australia, Ireland, USA)

The year 2012 was an amazing year full of many successes in the campaign for the cultural boycott of Israel. This summary focuses on the cultural boycott with an emphasis on musical artists and groups.

The fall of South African apartheid was preceded by the movement by artists of conscience to boycott “Sun City.” A similar anti-apartheid movement is rapidly growing; and musicians increasingly do not want to perform in Israel.

The Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, Habima, Batsheva, and the Cameri Theater continued to be sent to perform abroad as “cultural ambassadors” for Israel. This year people who oppose apartheid gathered in many cities to raise awareness of the complicity of these artists. Almost all Batsheva performances were protested. Demonstrations took place in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Italy, throughout the UK and in Edinburgh, Scotland.

January, 2012: The Tuneyards cancel their gig in Israel. The lead singer Merrill Garbus is a signatory of the Artists Against Israeli Apartheid pledge.[1]

Jacques Ranciére, acclaimed French intellectual and Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Paris (St. Denis) writes that he will not violate the boycott, and cancels plans to give public readings at Tel Aviv University. [2]

February, 2012: Award winning singer-songwriter Cat Power (Chan Marshall) cancels her gig in Tel Aviv, tweeting, “MUSIC IS HEALING AND IT IS NOT HUMANE IF ALL CANNOT HAVE THE CHOICE, THE RIGHT, TO ATTEND. H E L P, A W A R E N E S S”[3]

New York Indie band The Pains of Being Pure at Heart announce they will not play Israel. Israel’s “Walla” press reports the cancellation was political. [4]

Grammy-winning jazz singer Cassandra Wilson was scheduled to be the featured performer at the Holon International Women’s Festival. Just days before her sold out performances, she politely bowed out, saying “As a human rights activist I identify with the cultural boycott of Israel.” [5] Wilson received letters of thanks signed by solidarity groups from around the world.

Israeli TV uses the term “refuseniks” to refer to Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, U2 and Coldplay. The term implies that these artists have a political reason to refuse to perform in Israel. [6]
Emma Thompson
March, 2012: The cultural boycott moves to New York City as Batsheva attempts to present Israel’s pretty face through dance; Adalah-NY volunteers are ready with their own performance outside the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Palestinian dancer Hana Awwad writes, “Exhibits and performances by Palestinian artists are systematically banned, sabotaged, and closed down by the Israeli occupation. Artists themselves are targets of violence, arbitrary arrests, and deportations.” [7]

Actors and artists sign onto a letter asking Shakespeare’s Globe in London to withdraw its invitation to Habima, and refuse to be complicit with human rights violations and the illegal colonisation of occupied land. Thirty seven artists sign, including the highly acclaimed Academy Award, Emmy and and Golden Globe winning Emma Thompson. [8]

Staying true to punk rock, Zdob si Zdub from Moldavia keep Israel off their tour plans. Punks Against Apartheid wrote a letter to the band in January, asking them to respect the boycott.[9]

April, 2012: The six member Irish band Dervish agrees to respect the cultural boycott, cancelling a series of planned shows in Israel, stating: “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,” and adding, “Our decision to withdraw from the concerts reflects our wish to neither endorse nor criticise anyone’s political views in this situation.”[10] Fullset, also from Ireland, announce that they had not been aware of the cultural boycott, and cancel their concert in Israel on the back of the Dervish cancellation. [11]

The Mediterranean Delight International Bellydance Festival was slated to take place in Marrakech, Morocco. When it was uncovered that the festival was sponsored by an Israeli belly dancer, a campaign against normalization successfully shut down the show. Belly dancer Noor refuses to participate in the Israeli backed festival, and it was relocated to Greece. [12]

Qatar cancelled the Music and Dialogue Festival which featured Israeli musicians, scheduled for April 30 – May 4, marking another milestone for the growing anti-apartheid movement.[13]

Singer Macy Gray responds to a letter written to the Red Hot Chili Peppers asking them to boycott apartheid Israel. Gray reaffirms her commitment to justice when she tweets to activist Tali Shapiro (Boycott From Within) “Nvr give up the good fight Tali. Yer a great human. “ [14]

May, 2012: Huzama Habayeb, a Palestinian novelist, led an overwhelmingly successful academic boycott effort involving the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. The Center’s planned book project titled Memory of a Promise: Short Stories by Middle Eastern Women was cancelled because nearly half of the authors (13 out of 29) withdrew their literary contributions in protest of the inclusion of two Israeli authors celebrated amongst ‘institutionalised’ Israeli literary circles. Habayeb wrote “My overly conscious heart was heavy. I cannot accept, ethically and morally, that my voice be shared equally with writers who reflect the voice of an obnoxious occupier” [15] Regarding the large number of authors who refused to participate, the center’s Director Kamran Scot Aghaie writes, “On balance, the net result is that the book project is no longer viable. Therefore, we are discontinuing publication of this volume.” [16]

Slumdog Millionaire author Vikas Swarup cancels his appearance at the International Writers Festival in Israel. [17] The Indian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (INCACBI) had written to him in February. [18]

Shakespeare’s Globe in London hosted Israel’s National Theatre Habima. A twitter campaign using #loveculture developed by Israel’s UK embassy was transformed into #loveculture hate apartheid, and made global trends. As Habima performed The Merchant of Venice, streets were filled with people, signs, and Palestinian flags outside the Globe. Inside, numerous people peacefully held banners, and mentioned Palestine throughout the performance. British actor and audience member, John Graham Davies arose, delivering Shylock’s famous line during the trial scene, saying “Hath not a Palestinian eyes?” – for a moment the production almost lost its balance. Davies was then promptly removed by hired security personnel. [19]

June, 2012: Israeli advisor to the Red Sea International Classical Music Festival, tells Haaretz “I can testify that more than once projects have been cancelled or postponed based on their ‘Israeliness.’ And again – these things are not said crassly, no one will say: we are conducting a boycott. The word boycott doesn’t exist, but the political situation of Israel also impacts this field.” [20]

Grammy-Award winning tabla player Zakir Hussain of India cancels his gig in Israel. Hussain was contacted by the INCACBI. [21]

Pulitzer Prize winner and highly acclaimed author Alice Walker declines the publishing of the Color Purple by an Israeli publisher, stating: “It is my hope that the non-violent BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, of which I am part, will have enough of an impact on Israeli civilian society to change the situation.”[22]

July, 2012: When a celebration promoting Israeli culture in Switzerland attempts to include the Palestinian dance troupe Juthor, they withdraw. Organizers of the International Folklore Encounters Festival, Fribourg had intended to bring Juthor onto the stage together with the Israeli group Shalom Israel. [23]

Rocker Serj Tankian releases Occupied Tears, raising awareness about Palestinian life under occupation. [24]

Ottawa musical group Three Little Birds sing Apartheid on CTV Morning Live, and are subsequently attacked by pro-Israel media watchdog HonestReporting Canada.[25]

Nino Katamadze’s five concert tour was quietly cancelled, Katamadze was contacted by Boycott From Within, and plans for a five concert tour in November were scrapped. [26]

Anti-apartheid fans of Hollywood actors Bruce Willis and Jean Claude Van Damme were relieved they cancelled their planned visit to Tel Aviv, where they were scheduled to attend a local premiere screening of their latest film Expendables 2. [27]

Controversial reggae artist Sizzla Kalonji cancels his gig in Israel after tweeting his disappointment that Obama had awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Israeli President Shimon Peres. [28]

August, 2012: The importance of the cultural boycott was emphasized when reports reassured disappointed and, at times, angry Israeli fans that the cancellations of concerts in Tel Aviv by the Swedish Cardigans [29] and by Lenny Kravitz were for reasons not related to the cultural boycott of Israel. [30]

Highly successful protests of Batsheva take place in Edinburgh, Scotland. [31]

An Israeli website announced that English electronica big beat group Prodigy would perform in Tel Aviv. Emails from Prodigy’s manager showed claims the band would perform in Israel were completely false. The same site also made false claims that Jennifer Lopez and Bruce Springsteen would perform in Israel in 2012.

The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg-South Africa, Student Representative Council passed a resolution that calls for the full cultural and academic boycott of Israeli institutions, stating they “will not participate in any form of cultural or academic collaboration or joint projects with Israeli institutions and will not provide any support to Israeli cultural or academic institutions.”[32]

September, 2012: Noted British theater director Peter Brook and the Bouffes du Nord theatre troop of France honored the call to boycott Israel, cancelling planned performances for December at the Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv. Brook wrote: “The fact that the Cameri Theatre has accepted to support the brutal action of colonisation by playing in Ariel [in the West Bank] has made us aware that in coming to your theatre we would appear as a support for that brutal action. This forces us to decline your invitation to perform in your theatre. The decision is entirely ours, and not to come to you, it is our free choice. We know that there are many amongst you and in your country who share our attitude and it is them we wish to support as well as the people of Palestine.” [33]

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are asked to accept the anti-apartheid call, in a campaign that unites thousands in support for the cultural boycott of Israel. When the RHCP refuse to cancel their gig in Tel Aviv, internationally acclaimed Lebanese group Mashrou’ Leila, tweets “we will not be opening for the red hot chili peppers on september 6 in beirut.”[34]

Palestinian film directors refuse to participate in the filming of 24h Jerusalem, and production is halted. Twenty directors, including Israelis, pulled out of the film project in support of the cultural boycott. Though it appeared to be a benign film about culture, it was actually funded in part by the Jerusalem Development Authority, an organization implicated in numerous violations of human rights and illegal activities against Palestinians. Enas aL-Muthaffar, filmmaker, wrote: “I refuse to be part of a peace propaganda machine that continues to ignore Israel’s cruel colonization of Palestine.” [35]

A survey done in Britain finds that one in four support a full cultural boycott of Israel by musicians. [36]

October, 2012: Pulitzer Prize–winning author Alice Walker, Palestinian spoken word artist Remi Kenazi and Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters join dozens of other cultural workers to call for Carnegie Hall to cancel the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance.[37]

Hip hop duo Rebel Diaz, artist Narcenio Hall and Cairo-based art collective Mosireen boycott the two-day 2012 Creative Time Summit in Manhattan because of the summit’s partnership with an Israeli organization that is funded by the Israeli government.[38]

Ramallah-based Palestinian MC Boikutt, Syrian singer Lena Chamamyan, Lebanese MC Malikah (Lynn Fattouh), and Palestinian DJ Sotusura all pull out of the Salam.Orient cultural festival in Austria, because it is sponsored in part by the Israeli embassy. [39]

Turkish band Baba Zula’s concert in Israel was cancelled, while obviously not all cancelling performers have the courage to publicly state their reasons, it isn’t a surprise when they don’t rebook.

Remi Kanazi releases Normalize This! on youtube in support of the cultural boycott of Israel, explaining why normalization cannot lead to positive change.

November, 2012: The legendary Stevie Wonder (winner of 22 Grammy Awards and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award) makes international news when he cancels a scheduled December performance at a Los Angeles fundraiser for Friends of the IDF(FIDF), an organization that raises money for the Israeli army. [40] His statement is posted on the website of his radio station, Radio FREE KJLH 102.3FM.

The Cape Town World Music Festival had to do without one of its star acts when Pops Mohamed boycotted the event because of co-sponsorship by the Israeli embassy.

Ten talented young harpists bow out of the International Harp Contest in Israel, leaving only 22 non-Israelis to complete in the increasingly unpopular state sponsored event. In addition, acclaimed harpists Naoko Yoshino and Park Stickney also quietly cancelled their performances for the Harp Contest. [41]

At least 10 international actors withdrew from the IsraDrama festival, following last minute appeals asking them not to collaborate with the Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv which performs in settlements. [42]

Zebda, a popular band from France, releases One life less-(une vie de moins), which draws attention to Israeli occupation, Gaza, and how children are affected by apartheid.[43]

Electronica musician and DJ Carl Craig of Detroit quietly cancels his gig in Tel Aviv.

Ross Daly, Giorgos Xylouris, Giorgos Manolakis, and Kelly Thoma cancel plans to play at the Israeli state sponsored Jerusalem Oud Festival, stating “After all, we’re musicians with feelings and sensibilities, not music machines which can operate under all and any circumstances.” [44]

Roger Waters, musician and founder of Pink Floyd, explains the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in his address to the United Nations on behalf of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine: “It aims, as many of you know, to bring non-violent economic pressure to bear on Israel to force an end to its violations, an end to occupation and apartheid, an end to the denial of Palestinians’ right of return, and an end to Palestinian citizens of Israel being required to live as second class citizens, discriminated against on racial grounds, and subject to different laws than their Jewish compatriots. The BDS movement is gaining ground hand over fist. Just last week I was happy to write a letter of support to the Student Government of the University of California, Irvine, congratulating them on demanding that their University divest from companies that profit from the Israeli occupation.”[45]

December, 2012: The London-based Jazz group Portico Quartet, cancelled their planned concert for the Red Sea Jazz Festival in Israel. The band courageously voiced their support for the cultural boycott, linking fans on their Facebook page to the Palestinian BDS National Committee’s website. [46]

Swedish virtuoso guitarist Andreas Öberg was congratulated for cancelling his planned gigs in Israel, honoring the call for a cultural boycott of the apartheid state. Öberg let fans know about his cancellation on Facebook. [47]

A campaign launched July to persuade Woody Allen to shoot his next film in Israel failed. The goals of the movie were to “enable Israel to enter the world’s imagination in a way a billion dollars of hasbara (public relations/propaganda) couldn’t possibly buy.” In an open letter to Allen, he was asked “Would it not be more ingenious to develop a movie satirising Israel’s desperate attempts to obscure its crimes against humanity?” [48]

Looking ahead to 2013:

Bruce Springsteen’s choice to refrain from playing Israel in 2012 is a welcome one to anti-apartheid campaigners. Multiple claims in the Israeli press, as well as several campaigns to pressure Springsteen to play Israel, confirm that there are still major efforts underway to convince The Boss to ignore the boycott in 2013.

Israel tends to ask bands who previously played in the apartheid state to return. Bands whose members are Kabbalists are also often invited to play in Israel. All artists are invited to respect the boycott, regardless of their spiritual commitments and if they have previously played in Israel. Campaigns are already underway to educate artists involved with Lollapalooza Israel about the boycott. The catchy “lollapartheid” has already been used to describe the festival.

Don’t Play Apartheid Israel

Notes:
[1] 500 Artists Against Israeli Apartheid http://www.tadamon.ca/post/5824
[2] Jacques Ranciére cancelled his visit to Israel http://thesip.org/2012/01/ranciere-cancellatio/
[3] BDS Victory: Cat Power cancels show in Tel Aviv http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora/bds-victory-cat-power-cancels-show-tel-aviv
[4] The Pains of Being Pure At Heart dismissed for political reasons
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF8&langpair=auto%7Cen&rurl=translate.google.com&tbb=1&u=http://e.walla.co.il/%3Fw%3D%252F6%252F2509963&usg=ALkJrhg9BlEd4I6ePpoln6_co901s_K56Q
[5] Cassandra Wilson cancels Israel show: “I identify with the cultural boycott of Israel”
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora/singer-cassandra-wilson-cancels-israel-show-i-identify-cultural-boycott-israel
[6] From Israeli TV see 1.50 min [Hebrew] at:
http://www.mako.co.il/news-channel2/Channel-2-Newscast/Article-066c02822978531018.htm
[7] NY Activists protest Batsheva Dance Company performance in Brooklyn http://mondoweiss.net/2012/03/ny-activists-protest-batsheva-dance-company-performance-in-brooklyn.html
[8] Dismay at Globe Invitation to Israeli Theater http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/29/dismay-globe-invitation-israeli-theatre?newsfeed=true
[9] Zdob si Zdub: Stand in Solidarity with Palestinians! http://punksagainstapartheid.com/2012/01/zsz-open-letter/
[10] Heeding boycott call, Irish band Dervish pulls out of Israel concerts
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/heeding-boycott-call-irish-band-dervish-pulls-out-israel-concerts
[11] http://www.facebook.com/FullSetBand/posts/432263436801746
[12] Israeli Orientalist Festival in Morocco Bellyflops https://www.kadaitcha.com/2012/04/21/israeli-orientalist-festival-in-morocco-bellyflops/
[13] Israeli-Arab Normalization Hits a Snag http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/israeli-arab-normalization-hits-snag
[14] The Blessings of 2012, an album http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=426830113999740&set=a.383361181679967.117866.100000182654841&type=1&permPage=1
[15] My ‘No’ says more, and matters more http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1894&key=texas
[16] Statement on the Cancellation of “Memory of a Promise: Short Stories by Middle Eastern Women”
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/mes/news/5111
[17] http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4223273,00.html
[18] INCACBI Appeal to Vikas Swarup: Boycott the International Writers Festival 2012 in Jerusalem! http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1827
[19] ‘Hath not a Palestinian eyes?’: Protesters disrupt Habima performance at Globe
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/05/hath-not-a-palestinian-eyes-protesters-disrupt-habima-performance-at-globe.html
[20] Cultural boycott biting, but quietly, Israel Festival’s classical music advisor admits
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/cultural-boycott-biting-quietly-israel-festivals-classical-music-advisor-admits
[21] Zakir Hussain Cancels Performance in Tel Aviv http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1913)
[22] http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1917
[23] Palestinian group Juthour withdraws from International Folklore Encounters Festival in Fribourg http://bit.ly/Yl9nvj
[24] Occupied Tears http://youtu.be/9Qtyw84F5DM
[25] http://mondoweiss.net/2012/07/canadian-band-attacked-by-israel-lobby-group-after-playing-song-titled-apartheid.html
[26] Nino Katamadze Will Not Play Apartheid Israel http://www.usacbi.org/2012/07/nino-katamadze-will-not-play-apartheid-israel/
[27] Expendables 2: Stallone, Willis and Van Damme will not come to Israel http://news.walla.co.il/?w=%2F6%2F2553554
[28] Sizzla Tweets about Israel https://www.facebook.com/notes/dont-play-apartheid-israel/sizzla-tweets-about-israel/446169305432463
[29] Tel Aviv Cancelled! MAYDAY! MAYDAY! http://www.cardigans.com/?sid=default&bfs=1
[30] Apartheid Israel: Lenny Kravitz is not Boycotting Israel, Be Reassured
http://refrainplayingisrael.blogspot.com/2012/08/apartheid-israel-lenny-kravitz-is-not.html
[31] Hora, EIF 2012, Review http://www.edinburghguide.com/festival/2012/edinburghinternationalfestival/horaeif2012review-11441
http://refrainplayingisrael.blogspot.com/2012/09/peter-brooks-courageous-support-for.html
[32] South Africa’s Wits University student council unanimously passes boycott of Israel resolution http://www.bdssouthafrica.com/2011/08/university-of-witwatersrand-student.html
[33] Peter Brook’s Letter to the Cameri: “It is our free choice”
[34] Lebanon’s Mashrou’ Leila cancels on Chili Peppers after latter refuses Israel boycott call
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/lebanons-mashrou-leila-cancels-chili-peppers-after-latter-refuses-israel-boycott
[35] Jerusalem Development Authority Implicated in Boycotted Film Funding.
https://www.kadaitcha.com/2012/09/04/jerusalem-development-authority-implicated-in-boycotted-film-funding/
[36] YouGov Survey Results http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/0kh4fq1eb8/Jewish%20Chronicle%20Results%20120924.pdf
[37] Open Letter from Artists to Carnegie Hall
http://adalahny.org/web-action/1002/open-letter-artists-carnegie-hall-cancel-israel-philharmonic-orchestras-performance
[38] Artists Cancel Creative Time Summit Appearances Over Israeli “Partnership” [UPDATE 7]
http://hyperallergic.com/58499/artists-cancel-their-creative-time-summit-appearances-over-controversial-israeli-partnership/
[39] Three more Arab performers pull out of Austrian music festival due to Israel embassy sponsorship
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/three-more-arab-performers-pull-out-austrian-music-festival-due-israel-embassy
[40] http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/rights-groups-launch-petition-thank-stevie-wonder-canceling-israel-army-benefit
[41] Ten Harpists Bow out of Apartheid Israel Harp Contest!
http://harpsofconscience.wordpress.com/2012/11/24/ten-harpists-bow-out-of-apartheid-israel-harp-contest-thank-you-for-having-a-conscience/
[42] http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4313061,00.html
[43] One life less-(une vie de moins) http://youtu.be/Cq2MpG4gQgk
[44] http://www.rossdaly.gr/en/news/102-oudfestivall
[45] http://www.russelltribunalonpalestine.com/en/3140/roger-waters-specch-at-the-un
[46] http://refrainplayingisrael.blogspot.com/2012/12/portico-quartet-respects-boycott-of.html
[47] http://refrainplayingisrael.blogspot.com/2012/12/andreas-oberg-respects-cultural-boycott.html
[48] https://www.kadaitcha.com/2012/07/10/woody-allen-please-refuse-israels-hasbara-bribes/

SOURCE

How Zionists Use State-Sponsored Antisemitism

State-sponsored antisemitism has been used as a deliberate strategic ploy by zionist leaders from the inception of political zionism at the end of the 19th century till the present day.

Joseph Massad explains in his excellent latest oped:

‘Palestinians understood well these arguments and always insisted and insist that their struggle is against Jewish colonisation of their lands and not against Jews qua Jews. When Khaled Meshal arrived in Gaza a couple of weeks ago and made a speech to that effect, he insisted: “We do not fight the Jews because they are Jews. We fight the Zionist occupiers and aggressors. And we will fight anyone who tries to occupy our lands or attacks us.”‘

Antisemitism – anti-Jewish bigotry – like other forms of bigotry and racism, serves noone except the ruling elite. Resist!

December 16, 2012December 11, 2020

On Israeli Settler Colonialism and Indigeneity

Guest post by David Rylance:

On indigeneity, I wish to make a historical point. And I wish to start by acknowledging that it is absolutely true that there is a difference to the usual “plot” of settler-colonialism in Israel’s case, which usually revolves around a division of natives and foreigners. Certainly there could be no claims for origination from the land in the case of the Anglo-European extermination of American First Nations or Australian Aborigines, for example. However, indigenous “identity” is based on something far more fundamental than an identity claim to a historical relation to territory. It’s based on the concrete experience of dispossession from the place that one lives and the only home one knows. Even counting in the late terrible conditions in and after the Second World War, the experience of Jewish settlers was one of either deliberate planned immigration or, alternatively, of refugee flight. They had every grounds to flee and every right to be accepted wherever they fled to – *especially* Palestine. And Leftists of any principle will today defend the principles of open borders, precisely, in part, because of the quotas and closed borders that everywhere met the Jews in the lead-up to the Second World War. But there is a distinction between open borders and a project of colonization aimed at absorbing a territory under its own exclusive political power. Only the Right insists those two things are confusable, that too “large” an immigration is immediately a colonization – as though the free movement of peoples were a type of violent takeover in itself – and that colonization, meanwhile, as it has happened historically – especially in terms of the European dispersion across the globe – was ultimately little more than a regrettable but “inevitable” form of “modernizing” immigration of peoples.

I’m not sure if it’s apocryphal but it’s said that there was an exchange, reported in the memoir of Maarouf al-Dawalibi, between King Faisal of Saudi Arabia (hardly a progressive) and Charles de Gaulle (also anything but a Leftist) on this issue of indigeneity. I’ll quote from the text available online:

[In 1967], Charles De Gaulle held a dialogue with [Saudi] King Faisal. De Gaulle told King Faisal that the Jews have a right to Palestine because they lived there 4,000 years ago. King Faisal told him that in that case, France belongs to Rome, because 3,000 years ago, the Romans were in France. Does every country that occupies another country [have a right to it]? Palestine is the country of the Palestinians,who have lived there since the day God created it. If every country belonged to the people who entered it, no country in the world would belong to its people.
[De Gaulle] said: But some Jews were born in Palestine, and therefore, it is their country.
[King Faisal] asked: How many embassies are there in France?
[De Gaulle] said: 150 embassies.
[King Faisal] asked: What if every ambassador or embassy worker whose wife gives birth in France were to demand that France belong to him because his children were born in France? France would be lost to you.
Charles De Gaulle was speechless, and he was so convinced by what King Faisal said that he banned the sale of arms to the Jews in those days.

I’d amend this in a crucial manner. Rather than speak of embassy births in comparison to the Jewish population of Palestine – a population that was also, in 1948, comprised of many native Jews, with as fully continuous a territorial existence in Palestine as Palestinian Arabs, who were coerced and forced into shattering all civic social ties they had built with Palestinian neighbours in order to vindicate the declaration of “independence” forced down upon them – I would compare the formation of Israel based on claims to the historical lineage of Jewish births in the region – and thus a Jewish indigeneity, a non-foreign claim – as being equivalent to New Guinea being able to prove that the Aboriginal population of Australia had descended from migrations from its territory tens of thousands of years ago and to then make claims for its right to a *New Guinean* state on Australian territory due to the fact the Indigenous Aboriginals of Australia were, “in fact”, not indigenous *Australians* – native to their country of indigenous attachment – but were, on the contrary, a New Guinean diaspora that must identify with their New Guinea-ness now in order to qualify as indigenous.

That’s the plight of what Zionism inflicted on many Jews in Palestine – not invested in this project of state-formation – in the lead-up to 1948. As Ariella Azoulay, a Jewish Israeli, argues, one of the greatest crimes in this entire business has been the way racialization – deeply connected to capitalist state-formation – has enabled Israelis to insist that whatever the nakba might be, it is only a catatsrophe *from their point of view*, that it has nothing to do with a violence that had to forge an essential and absolute dividing line between Jews and Arabs that sliced across the civil society that actually existed on the ground. She writes of 1948: “Dayr Yasin, Sheikh Mouanis, Kibbutz Saris, Majdal, Sidna Ali, Miske and Rashpon are only a few of the places where Jews and Arabs tried to preserve their lives in common.” The utter devastation of that society – not only by the Zionist movement, I should add, if it was by that movement primarily and fundamentally, but also by the power politics of surrounding regimes which were deeply disinvested from care about the Palestinians’ autonomy and concerned more about the militarized colonial threat they could (quite correctly) see brewing on their doorstep – determines everything about Israel/Palestine today, from the shattered splintering of the Palestinian people into “citizens” of Israel, subjects of the occupation, “foreigners” in Gaza and exiles in the disapora to the perennial siege mentality, eulogization of state and military chauvinism, and deeply narcissistic wound culture of Israel that instrumentalizes trauma (sometimes real, but mostly imagined) both so hysterically and so cynically. To claim, then, that a very real Jewish historical indigenity in Palestine justifies the exclusivist and chauvinist Israeli state is not only wrong, it is an obscene erasure of the entanglements and interrelations in a single civil society that were the actual truth of that indigenous history. And this is exactly why there has always been, from the very moment Zionism came into being as a national-colonial political ideology, anti-Zionist Jews absolutely resolute upon opposing it not just for the sake of Palestinians but *for the sake of its oppressive demands upon Jewish indigeneity and diversity*, not only in Palestine but all over the world.

So I ask all of you who care for indigenous rights not to be confused by what can appear a very seductive argument about “conflicted justice” in this situation which exploits this fine point about indigenous ties. There is, indeed, in this historical relation a difference that sets Israel off from almost all other settler-colonialisms but it is *not* a difference that negates the fact it *is* a settler-colonial state, only that it has imposed that fact not merely upon Palestinians but also upon many Jews who lived in Palestine who it now claims, totalistically, to represent.

December 13, 2012December 11, 2020

For the Palestinian People – Against the Normalisation of Apartheid

False Equivalence

Contrast free choice
with less by the years
one is duplicitous
one is crushed
bulldozers grind
village homes to dust
one expands to usurp
indigenousness
one says enough
to a bone harvest
of human surplus
valley to valley
springs sealed dry
one steals water from
daughters of vines
one exposed, burning
one hand to hand
from settlement terraces
one laughs alone
500 checkpoints
between the two
one throws stones
one shoots to kill
one cries protest
one fires murder
tree spirit scream
love disinterred
ripped from the body
one redeems curses
exotic burdens
on children of land
another empirical
divide and rule
one from one
unequivocal theft
torments one mind
one asks the Beast
for armament gifts
one asks just people
for support, to resist.

Sylvia Posadas, December 2012

New Age Apartheid

In light and love
no more enemies
knock at the door
at 2 a.m. to drag away
the children
to the dungeons
where they will be
verballed,
detained till they
implicate out of fear
and next week the
boots will kick at the door
in light and love
at gunpoint take
husband for years
on no charge
no trial,
robbing light and love
no more enemies
they think
when all are driven
from coveted land.

Sylvia Posadas, December 2012

The appropriation of indigenousness has been a long term project on the part of the invading zionists – as Haneen Zoabi said at the Russell Tribunal hearings some months ago, they are trying to redefine themselves as the owners of the land – they are stealing the very concept of homeland from Palestinians. This endeavour is not only unjust for Palestinian Arabs but Palestinian Jews.

Zionists, who were and are predominantly secular, have absorbed pieces of mythology from many sources in order to bolster their expansionist, land thieving settler colonial purposes. The syncretism of religious themes into the political ideology of zionism is highly convenient, but of course is utterly worthless as any real claim. The Christian zionist vote is of much interest to Israel, for the evangelical vote is the single most important factor delivering clout to Israel’s influence in the US. Thus, when Israel courts evangelical Indigenes, there’s a double purpose – to aid in the usurpation of Indigenousness from Palestinians, rebranding Palestinians as invaders of their own lands, and assuring the evangelical vote.

Coincidentally and contemporaneously: Navajo President meeting with Israeli Apartheid government: Grassroots Navajos outraged, call Navajo president ‘war machine puppet’

‘Noting that Native American governments have been complicit with, or coopted by Israel, Barker says:

I want Native governments to divest themselves from Israel as well (most immediately the Chickasaw and Navajo governments, who support Israeli products and send delegates to the Israeli government).

Notably, Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly was in Israel for an official visit at the same time as Harjo.’

From Sa’ed Adel Atshan: ‘Many Palestinians and those in solidarity with our struggle had hoped that Joy Harjo would be principled in heeding the calls of another subjugated people. We have been profoundly dismayed by her recent decision to accept funding from Tel Aviv University, an Israeli state institution, and to not only perform there on Monday but also to serve as a Writer-in-Residence. Soon after hearing this disappointing news, Native American peers of Harjo, including Robert Warrior, called on her to boycott the event.’

President Shelly in Israel to Meet with Knesset, Agriculture Ministry, & Memorial Visit to Yad Vashem

Inferring wrongly that Palestinian students support her, Harjo breaches the boycott

Joy Harjo ‘Didn’t Know’

Alice Bach examines the fake biblical syncretism by zionists.

‘The triumphant Assyrians settled some of their subject populations there and in Syria to mingle with the Palestinian people. The Hill Country of Samaria remained a province during the Persian period. Then, Samaria, along with Judea, became the property of the Babylonians, from 539 until 333 BC, and subsequently was ruled by the Hellenistic Greeks, and then the formidable Roman Empire. The land was never owned by the Jewish people, except in minds that were nourished by the Biblical narratives.’

From Ricardo A. Bracho:

“My response to Joy Harjo letter defending her indefensible performance at Tel Aviv University. The “last minute” stuff is re: her seemingly being unaware of the boycott until she was contacted night before and day of her flight out.

Joy, It wasn’t as last minute as you claim. I, among others, noticed your earlier intent when you posted “Should I go to Tel Aviv?” while the occupying Zionist forces rained down bombs on the Gazans in November. Tel Aviv University posted in cancelling the event that you did not go “for security reasons” while your postings indicated that you stayed for a family medical emergency. I thought that was that. I should have intervened then. That was my political error. I then noticed, as others did, your posting indicating you had an early flight out to Tel Aviv the evening prior to your departure. Once I began to recover from his shock, and yes I found it utterly shocking that you would go to Israel and Tel Aviv University, I contacted others closer to the BDS movement and to you. Our emails and phone calls reached you before you left the US. You could have not boarded the plane. You could have, once you arrived, cancelled the gig and put yourself in contact with Israeli and Palestinian activists and gone to the West Bank and Gaza. You could have simply returned. You could have engaged, directly, with the critique coming from Palestinians, the initial letter emailed to you and then posted on here or the many eloquent comments. You did none of this. You now hide behind platitudes and metaphors. At the very least, you are a better writer than this. But even your best verse, will provide no shade for your grossly unethical actions. I am less in shock now. In rage and sadness, Ricardo A. Bracho”

Building Bridges Between Jews and Christians

Joshua Generation for Jesus: ‘The offical business is presenting a Proclamation Declaring the Navajo Nation, as a Sovereign Nation, is standing with Israel.’

‘Whether you are a Jewish person wondering about your connection to people who believe Yeshua is the Messiah, or a Christian who has accepted Him as your Savior you are called. We are called by God to join together.’

Tso is full Navajo, a “pastor” but also has a business – church is a registered non profit but has not submitted 990s. This is possible only if revenue is under 25 grand.

Somebody Cares America – The Net that works!

Glenn Beck amplifying Pastor Tso

Messanaic Jewish org: Navajo nation supports Israel

Main Street USA – Gallup, New Mexico – 10 Sep 07 – Part 1 : Dave Marash visits the town where Navajo and Palestinian traditions intertwine.
Main Street USA – Gallup, New Mexico – 10 Sep 07 – Part 2

On her blog, Harjo reflects dissonantly on boycott here, here and here.