For decades, Palestinians have lived under and struggled against a system of Israeli occupation, colonization, and apartheid. Today, the vast majority of Palestinian civil society calls upon us to join the global boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel until it respects international law and basic human rights for Palestinians.

One of the most important elements of the BDS movement is the cultural boycott campaign, launched in 2004 by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). With this campaign, PACBI asks us all to recognize Israeli cultural institutions’ complicity with Israeli apartheid, to refrain from participating in cultural events in Israel, and to boycott events throughout the world that are sponsored by the Israeli government and complicit Israeli institutions. This campaign is not targeted at individual Israelis, but at Israeli institutions that are complicit in maintaining the multi-tiered system of oppression against the Palestinian people. PACBI has developed a full set of guidelines for carefully evaluating whether an event is boycottable.

New York is a worldwide cultural hub, and is one of the centers of the "Brand Israel" initiative, through which the Israeli government attempts to “show Israel’s prettier face, so we [Israel] are not thought of purely in the context of war.” Artists and cultural workers in New York City are committing to Palestinian rights by refusing Israel's use of the arts to whitewash its violations of international law and by upholding the Palestinian call for cultural boycott as explained in PACBI's guidelines.