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Campaign for a Cultural Boycott of Apartheid Israel

The campaign for a cultural boycott of apartheid Israel is a movement to end cultural collaborations with Apartheid Israel. The cultural boycott includes a boycott of cultural institutions and individuals who do not condemn Israeli Apartheid and occupation. It is particularly opposed to cultural tours of Israel without a clear anti-occupation objective.

Many musicians, artists and others have joined the call for a cultural boycott and have cancelled tours to Apartheid Israel.

Sample letter to send to Artists/Academics and other Travelling to Israel or entering into Cultural Collaborations with Israel

The following letter is a model to send to artists, academics or others who are travelling to Israel, touring in Israel or taking part in events without a clear anti occupation focus. It could also be sent to those considering taking part in cultural collaborations outside Israel which have a clear zionist bias or sponsorship from the Israeli state, tourist board or embassy.

Download the Model Letter

Dear

We are writing to ask you not to visit Israel to ………………………………………………

This is of course a very serious request, but we make it in the name of justice for the Palestinian people.

Israel was established on the ruins of another country, Palestine. In 1948 more than half the population of Palestine were uprooted from their cities and villages, 400 of which were completely destroyed. The state of Israel has never allowed Palestinian refugees to return and today their number has reached 7 million, many of whom are still stateless, living in refugee camps in Palestine and other Arab countries

Since its establishment the state of Israel has consistently violated international law. To date, it has defied 246 UN Security Council Resolutions.  As a direct consequence, seven million Palestinians are excluded from the right to live on land internationally acknowledged to be theirs; and increasingly, they are being excluded from their right to any future at all as a nation. The 4 million Palestinians in the occupied territories have endured over 40 years of brutal occupation and denied even the most basic Human rights. The 1.4 million who remain in Israel are second class citizens.

The daily brutality of the Israeli army in Gaza and the West Bank continues; Palestinian land is being stolen, houses demolished and crops destroyed. For several months now the state of Israel has been carrying out a slow genocide in the Gaza Strip, maintaining a tight blockade over its inhabitants. Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other prominent South Africans have likened the situation of the Palestinians to apartheid.

The challenge of apartheid was fought with the non-violent international response of a campaign of boycott, divestment, and sanctions. Today Palestinian artists, trade unionists, teachers, writers, film-makers and non-governmental organisations have called for a comparable boycott of Israel, as offering another path to a just peace, saying, “ At a time when the international movement to isolate Israel is gaining ground in response to the escalation of Israel's colonial and racist policies, we respectfully urge conscientious academics, artists and intellectuals from around the world, including those who visit the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), to refrain from visiting Israel to participate in any event or encounter that is not explicitly dedicated to ending Israel's illegal occupation and other forms of oppression. Regardless of intentions, such visits only contribute to the prolongation of injustice by normalizing and thereby legitimizing it, and inadvertently support Israel's efforts to appear as a "normal" participant in the "civilized" world of science, scholarship and art while at the same time practicing a pernicious form of apartheid against Palestinians.” This call has been endorsed by some brave Israeli dissidents and many prominent international figures.

Boycott is a tactic which allows people, as distinct from their elected governments, to apply pressure on those wielding power in an unjust way. It is directed not against people but against oppressive and unjust policies and regimes in order to bring about change.

By …………. you will be implicitly supporting war crimes, ethnic cleansing, dispossession, and continued oppression of the Palestinian people, a people seeking to end the silence of the international community and achieve a just peace. The Israeli politicians and citizens see every visit to Israel as an act of support for their policies. Every cancellation is a reminder to them that all is not well and that there will be a price for the ongoing oppression and the indifference for rights of Palestinian.

If you require more information about the situation in Israel and the Occupied Territories, organisations such as Amnesty International, the World Health Organisation and the Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem (see links to these sights at www.palestinecampaign.org) have published detailed reports. We feel sure that, in the light of the information available, you would not wish to lend support – however indirect and implicit – to Israel’s policies, by attending ……

Signed

Resources for the Cultural Boycott Campaign

Ken Loach joins the Campaign for a Cultural Boycott of Apartheid Israel

Coverage of the Lusass Film Festival's Decision to cancel showing of Israeli Film

Electronic Intifada on the Academic and Cultural Boycot

John Berger calls on artists and writers to join a cultural boycott of apartheid Israel