New York, NY, February 21 2012 - More than 20 organizations representing human rights activists and artists around the United States and Canada are calling on the Batsheva Dance Company to cut all ties to the Brand Israel campaign and take a stand against the Israeli government's violations of Palestinian rights. Batsheva will begin a five week North American tour at the end of February, performing in San Francisco, Quebec City, Montréal, New York, Tulsa, Chicago, Austin and Scottsdale.
The boycott of Batsheva is a response to the Palestinian civil society call for the academic and cultural boycott of Israel, which is part of the growing Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement calling for a boycott of Israeli institutions and companies until demands for equality are met, including the end to the military occupation of Palestinian land, equal rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel, and the right of return for refugees, which is guaranteed by UN resolution 194.
We are writing as human rights activists and artists from North American cities that you plan to visit on your upcoming tour. Palestinian civil society has issued a call for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, modeled on the call for the boycott of apartheid South Africa. Respecting that call, we urge you to cut all ties to the Brand Israel campaign and take a stand against the Israeli government’s violations of Palestinian rights. Until you do so, we will not welcome you in our cities and will organize a boycott of your performances due to your collaboration with the Israeli state.
Join Adalah-NY to protest a performance by Batsheva, "Israel’s leading cultural ambassador".
In an exchange of letters with Adalah-NY, Batsheva's host, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, tried the excuse that Batsheva's performance won't "further a political agenda", but there's no denying it's part of the "Brand Israel" propaganda campaign.
In solidarity with the Palestinian call for cultural boycott, don't let Israel use dance to whitewash apartheid!
Click here to read the exchange between Adalah-NY and the President of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Karen Hopkins.
This event is part of Israeli Apartheid Week. See the full NYC calendar HERE.
On January 26 2012, Adalah-NY sent a letter to the Brooklyn Academy of Music explaining why they should cancel their 2012 performances of the Batsheva Dance Company.
Alan H. Fishman Chairman of the Board Brooklyn Academy of Music
Karen Brooks Hopkins President Brooklyn Academy of Music
February 6, 2012
Dear Ms. Brooks,
Thank you for your February 2nd e-mail responding to Adalah-NY’s January 26th letter in which we called on you to cancel the Batsheva Dance Company’s upcoming performances at BAM. Adalah-NY supports the Palestinian civil society call for a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions, such as the Batsheva Dance Company, that are complicit in Israel’s violation of international law and denial of Palestinian rights, and that refuse to take a stand against Israel’s systematic discrimination against the Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories, within Israel, and as refugees in the diaspora.
Thank you for your letter regarding BAM's upcoming presentation of Batsheva Dance Company. I appreciate that you recognize BAM's history as a progressive arts organization and its commitment to diversity. Our core mission is an artistic one; we recognize the work of Batsheva as we recognize and support artistic work from dozens of countries and cultures.
Alan H. Fishman Chairman of the Board Brooklyn Academy of Music
Karen Brooks Hopkins President Brooklyn Academy of Music
January 26, 2012
Dear Mr. Fishman and Ms. Brooks,
We are a group of New York City-based human rights activists and artists supporting the struggle for justice, human rights, equality and democracy in the Middle East. As residents of New York City, including Brooklyn, we greatly appreciate the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s (BAM) long history as a progressive arts institution that supports diversity, equal rights, environmental consciousness and grassroots community action. We are writing with respect to Batsheva Dance Company’s upcoming performance at BAM.
October 18, New York, NY - New York human rights activists protested the Idan Raichel and India.Arie “Open Door” concert at the Beacon Theater Tuesday night, handing out fliers and singing songs that highlighted how the performers help whitewash Israel’s apartheid policies against the Palestinian people. The US tour of Grammy Award–winning singer/songwriter India.Arie with “Israel’s most popular dread-locked musician” was met with similar protests in Olympia, WA, and Seattle, WA, and will again face protest this Wednesday in Boston.
Hannah Mermelstein of Adalah-NY stated, “This is not just a normal concert. By using culture to cover up Israel’s systematic repression of Palestinians, the Open Door concert closes the doors on Palestinian human rights. Idan Raichel is a self-proclaimed proud ambassador of Israel, but there is no pride in Israel’s ongoing siege—which includes killing, imprisonment, land confiscation, and blockades—of the indigenous people of Palestine.”
