John Berger and 93 other ... call for a cultural boycott of Israel

[Scurrilous]

Full Title: John Berger and 93 other authors, film-makers, musicians and performers call for a cultural boycott of Israel


Press Release Ramallah December 15, 2006

<snip>

"PACBI is pleased to announce that in a letter that appears in today’s Guardian, the 94, including the renowned author John Berger; UK musicians and song-writers Brian Eno and Leon Rosselson; filmmakers Sophie Fiennes, Elia Suleiman and Haim Bresheeth; documentary maker Jenny Morgan; singer Reem Kelani; writers Arundhati Roy, Ahdaf Soueif, and Eduardo Galeano, call on their colleagues not to visit, exhibit or perform in Israel.

The letter comes after the August 2006 statement issued by Palestinian filmmakers, artists, writers, and other cultural workers calling for a cultural boycott of Israel. The statement can be viewed at: http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=315_0_1_0_C

The Berger letter, signed by artists from across Europe, North and South America, as well as Palestinians and Israelis, reads:

"There is a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon, albeit daily violated by Israeli overflights. Meanwhile the day to day brutality of the Israeli army in Gaza and the West Bank continues. Ten Palestinians are killed for every Israeli death; more than 200, many of them children, have been killed since the summer. UN resolutions are flouted, human rights violated as Palestinian land is stolen, houses demolished and crops destroyed. For archbishop Desmond Tutu, as for the Jewish (former ANC military commander presently South African minister of security), Ronnie Kasrils, the situation of the Palestinians is worse than that of black South Africans under apartheid. Meantime Western governments refer to Israel’s ‘legitimate right’ of self-defence, and continue to supply weaponry.

The challenge of apartheid was fought better. The non-violent international response to apartheid was a campaign of boycott, divestment, and, finally UN imposed sanctions which enabled the regime to change without terrible bloodshed. Today Palestinians teachers, writers, film-makers and non-governmental organisations have called for a comparable academic and cultural boycott of Israel as offering another path to a just peace. This call has been endorsed internationally by university teachers in many European countries, by film-makers and architects, and by some brave Israeli dissidents. It is now time for others to join the campaign – as Primo Levi asked: If not now, when?

We call on creative writers and artists to support our Palestinian and Israeli colleagues by endorsing the boycott call. Read the Palestinian call (www.pacbi.org).

Don’t visit, exhibit or perform in Israel!"

http://www.pacbi.org/announcements_more.php?id=415_0_5_0_M

[Name removed]

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[Scurrilous]

2. Roger Waters joins the War on Want

Roger Waters, former member of Pink Floyd, is to give his backing to a major War on Want campaign.

http://www.waronwant.org/Untitled+Document+8424.twl

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"The campaign focuses on poverty and marginalisation caused by the dividing wall which separates Israel and the occupied territories of Palestine.

Roger, who wrote the song “Another Brick in The Wall”, is the first of many musicians, poets, comedians and actors to sign an 8 ft tall mock up of the wall, which will travel round the country and be presented to the UK government as a petition.

Roger Waters said, “The poverty inflicted by the wall has been devastating for Palestinians. It has kept children from their schools, the sick from proper medical care and continues to destroy the Palestinian economy. I fully support War on Want’s campaign, and hope that as many people as possible sign the wall – as a strong message to the UK government that immediate action is essential.”

John Coventry, Media Officer at War on Want said, “The aim of the campaign is to bring this issue to the front of people’s minds. We hope that this media friendly campaign can really bring home the hardship faced by millions of Palestinians. We are thrilled to have Roger on board."


Palestine Campaign

http://www.waronwant.org/palestine

[oberliner]

3. John Berger is wrong to boycott Israel

I share John Berger's frustration at the aggressive, unlawful stance taken by Israel in Lebanon and Gaza since such bullish action seems guaranteed to reduce the chance of a settlement rather that bring it about but a cultural boycott is not the answer or even part of it.

The iniquities of the Israeli/Palestinian stalemate can hardly fail to stir the heart of anyone whom wants to see justice and peace in the middle east. Somehow we have come to expect a greater creativity from people who, more than most, know the meaning of persecution and hatred at its most evil; from a nation that has produced some of the world's great musicians, writers and actors; many of whom themselves despair at the intransigence and violence of their politicians.

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/michael_berkeley/2006/12/john_berger_is_wrong_to_boycot.html

[Tom Joad]

4. We need the equivalent of another Sun City album.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9505E1D61738F932A05753C1A963948260

[oberliner]

6. Why We Should Not Boycott Israeli Academics (Juan Cole - 2002)

I thought the divestiture movement and the boycott of academic institutions
in the old racist South Africa a good idea, and was cheered to see students at the University of Michigan demonstrating against apartheid in the 1980s. I do not feel the same way about boycotting Israeli academics, as has been called for by hundreds of European scholars since April.

<snip>

While I understand the impulse, the shunning of Israeli academic institutions seems to me entirely the wrong place to begin. The supporters of the European academic boycott often make an analogy to South Africa and its apartheid policies. Yet while Arab Israelis are discriminated against in many ways in Israeli society, there is nothing like apartheid.

http://chronicle.com/free/v48/i46/46b01301.htm

I don't know if he's changed his opinion since 2002 on this.

[cali]

5. Severing dialog

particularly between people who largely agree is never a good thin. I have very dear friends in the dance world who have long worked to bring Palestinians and Israelis together, who are dismayed by this initiative.