BLOGPOSTS
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Over 1,000 musicians support Eurovision boycott over Israel inclusion
“As artists, we recognise our collective agency – and the power of refusal.”…
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Bloomberg Philanthropies, Arts Sponsorship, War Crimes: Briefing
The Bloomberg-Sagol Center perpetuates war crimes through its training of Israeli settler leaders and officials in the Palestinian West Bank. It also empowers officials who incite crimes against humanity.
Armed with this knowledge, British and other international cultural organisations should not partner with Bloomberg Philanthropies for as long as it is implicated in grave violations of the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people.
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How to Take Action for Palestine as a Charity
A guide: How to take action for Palestine as an arts charity
It’s a myth that registered charities in the UK are prohibited from undertaking work that is political.
Find out more 👇🏽
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The Royal Shakespeare Company, the fashion label and the IDF
Artists for Palestine UK is dismayed to learn of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s collaboration with the US fashion label Alice + Olivia on “a licensed apparel collection inspired by Shakespeare’s literary works”. A + O is a label that declared itself “in support of Israel” while Israel was indiscriminately bombing civilians in Gaza and had already killed hundreds of children. As the death toll rose, the label hosted a fund-raising event for US Friends of the Israeli Defence Force, designated ‘official US partner’ by the Chief of Staff of the Israeli military. Today, following Artists for Palestine UK’s findings and the subsequent backlash from artists, The Stage reports that RSC artistic directors will convene a special meeting of its ethics committee.
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Model EthicS Policy for Cultural Institutions
What are the responsibilities of a British cultural institution, organisation or charity at a time when the gravest of crimes are being committed in plain sight in Gaza?
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Olivia Colman, Javier Bardem, Mark Ruffalo Among 1,300+ Refusing Collaboration with Israeli Film Institutions Complicit in Gaza Genocide
In a historic move, Oscar, BAFTA, Emmy, Cannes, Berlin, Venice, César, Goya, and Peabody Award winners are among more than 1,200 filmmakers who launched a pledge Monday saying they refuse to work with Israeli film institutions “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.”
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Victory for staff as Royal Ballet and Opera pulls Israel production
182 members of The Royal Ballet and Opera said they “reject future performances in Israel”. They stand in solidarity with performer who protested with Palestinian flag.
CEO announces decision to cancel 2026 production in Israel.
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Paul Weller, Tilda Swinton: stop the proscription of Palestine Action
Today, leading artists including musicians Paul Weller, Massive Attack’s Robert del Naja, Brian Eno and US artist Reggie Watts have joined Nadine Shah in calling for the ban to be dropped and for the government to stop supplying arms to Israel.
Actors Tilda Swinton, Steve Coogan and Billy Howle are among those signing the statement saying “Palestine Action is intervening to stop a genocide. It is acting to save life.”
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Caryl Churchill Pulls Donmar Play Over Barclays’ Role in Arming Israel
Caryl Churchill, one of Britain’s greatest living playwrights, has withdrawn a play from the Donmar Warehouse upon learning that the theatre receives support from Barclays, which invests over £2 billion and provides £6.1 billion in loans and underwriting to nine arms companies supplying weapons to Israel. Over 300 theatre workers have signed an open letter, published in full below, backing Churchill and urging the Donmar Warehouse to cut ties with the bank.
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Leading lights demand Almeida Theatre cut ties with Bloomberg over war crimes
Jack Reynor, Billy Howle, Zoe Telford and Caryl Churchill are among leading lights of theatre and screen demanding Islington’s Almeida Theatre end its partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies over its “links to human rights violations and war crimes” and in particular, its “direct and ongoing support for illegal settlements” in the occupied Palestinian West Bank.
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‘A Licence to Kill’: UK government to face High Court over arms to Israel
Award-winning actor Juliet Stevenson has released the short film, ‘A Licence to Kill’, calling on the UK government to stop providing Israel with the weapons it uses to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
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Dozens of ex-Eurovision contestants demand exclusion of Israel from contest
Britain’s Mae Muller and Bianca Nicholas joined Charlie McGettican , Salvador Sobral and dozens of former Eurovision contestants in calling on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to ban Israel’s public broadcaster KAN from the popular song contest.
Over 75 previous participants, who include songwriters, lyricists and other creatives from across Europe, accuse KAN of being “complicit in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza”.
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Royal Television Society U-Turns on Special Award for Palestinian Journalists
In response to a statement by the Royal Television Society (copied below), UK Screen Industry has said: “We welcome the Royal Television Society’s U-turn in reinstating the Special Award for the courageous Palestinian journalists of Gaza. However, the charity’s statement does little to address or allay our concerns.
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Leading Broadcasters Demand Reinstatement of Special Award Recognising Gaza Journalists
Broadcasters Jonathan Dimbleby, Lindsey Hilsum, Sangita Myska, Matt Frei, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Alex Crawford, Fergal Keane and Orla Guerin are among more than 400 TV and journalism professionals who have sent a letter to the leadership of the Royal Television Society (RTS) demanding transparency around its decision-making after the charity abruptly cancelled its Special Award for journalists in Gaza last week.
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BBC bosses ‘throwing Palestinian children under a bus’
“We welcome Tim Davie saying an independent review of the BBC’s Middle East coverage is appropriate and urge that this accounts for its abject failure to stand by the Palestinian voices it features. We all know Israeli guests would never be treated this way.”
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TV industry urges MPs to press BBC execs over Gaza documentary removal
UK TV and film programme-makers have urged a panel of MPs to press BBC executives on Tuesday over the controversial removal of a documentary about children in Gaza.
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Our response to the BBC’s shameful statement on ‘Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone’
Following Thursday’s BBC board meeting and statement on ‘Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone’, Artists for Palestine UK said: “We are appalled that the BBC has chosen to give credence to a politicised campaign that sought to discredit a documentary about children’s experiences of unspeakable Israeli military violence, because one child’s father was deputy agriculture minister in Gaza. This disgraceful decision comes despite nearly 900 media figures having warned the BBC of the dangers of such an approach.
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1,000+ programme-makers condemn censorship and racism after BBC pulls Gaza documentary
Gary Lineker, Brian Cox, Sangita Myska, Nish Kumar, Khalid Abdalla, Anita Rani, and Miriam Margolyes have joined over 1,000 film, TV, and media workers in condemning censorship and racism after the BBC pulled a documentary about children’s lives in Gaza.
The media professionals, including sixteen BBC staff, sent a letter to the broadcaster’s director-general Tim Davie, chair of the board Samir Shah, chief content officer Charlotte Moore, and head of news and current affairs Deborah Turness on Wednesday. The letter condemned a “racist” and “dehumanising” campaign targeting the film Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone, which the BBC removed from its iPlayer streaming service after pressure from supporters of Israel.
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Leading artists condemn campaign against ‘Let it be a Tale’ theatre production
Leading artists, including writer Michael Rosen, actors Billy Howle and Khalid Abdalla, playwrights Caryl Churchill and Tanika Gupta and composer Orlando Gough, have spoken out against attempts to damage the reputation and stifle the work of Brighton’s ThirdSpace theatre company.
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Turner Prize winner’s inspirational acceptance speech
Artist Jasleen Kaur’s acceptance speech was delivered at the Turner Prize award ceremony at Tate Britain and broadcast live on BBC News, on 3rd December 2024.
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Tate, Cut Your Ties With Genocidal Israel
In the lead up to this year’s Turner Prize awards ceremony, more than 60 artists closely associated with Tate (including three out four of this year’s Turner Prize nominees, two of its judges, and many former prize winners and nominees) have signed an open letter. Supported by a thousand further signatories in the arts, it calls on Tate’s leadership to cut ties with organisations that are deeply complicit with the Israeli state.
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Genocide, With The United Kingdom’s Blessing
Khalid Abdalla Calls On The Government To End Its Complicity.
As Israel systematically eradicates the last remnants of healthcare in Gaza, human rights defenders have screened a film on the walls of St Thomas’s Hospital, London. Actor Khalid Abdalla speaks the words of surgeon Ghassan Abu-Sittah, who will never be able to unsee the horror that has been inflicted on Palestinians.
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‘Every Day a New Atrocity’: Juliet Stevenson calls on government to end supply of arms to Israel
Award-winning actor Juliet Stevenson has released the short film, ‘Every day a new atrocity’, calling again on the UK government to end its complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
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Top filmmakers urge New York Film Festival to drop sponsor complicit in Israel’s war crimes
Ahead of the opening of the 62nd New York Film Festival this evening, dozens of this year’s featured filmmakers, including Mike Leigh (Hard Truths), Julia Loktev (My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow), Neo Sora (Happyend), Basel Adra, Hamdam Ballal and Yuval Abraham (No Other Land), Truong Minh Quý (Viet and Nam) and Carson Lund (Eephus) have published an open letter saying that in the face of Israel’s near year-long “brutal onslaught of killing, maiming and displacement” of Palestinians in Gaza, they are “acting collectively towards ending the complicity of our institutions”.
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Leading Arts Figures Condemn Anti-Trans and Anti-Palestinian Censorship at Royal Exchange Theatre
Kingsley Ben-Adir, Khalid Abdalla, Pooja Ghai and April De Angelis are among 200+ arts and theatre figures who have signed an open letter to Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre condemning the theatre for censoring references to Palestinian and trans liberation in a recently commissioned work.
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Hundreds of Artists Condemn the Royal Academy of Arts’ Anti-Palestinian Censorship
Royal Academicians Jock McFadyen, Rana Begum, Vanessa Jackson, Tim Shaw, David Nash, Helen…
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Top Artists Join Campaign to End UK Arms Sales to Israel
Award winning British artists – Juliet Stevenson, Khalid Abdalla, David Calder, Charlotte Church and Maxine Peake – have released a series of short films, ‘Stop Arming Israel’, calling for “an end to Britain’s role in killing Palestinians”, ahead of the UK elections.
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Leading Artists to Keir Starmer: Commit to Stopping Arms Sales to Israel
Over 100 leading cultural figures in Britain, including Oscar and
BAFTA-winners, have called on Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to commit to stop
arming Israel if elected Prime Minister on 4 July. -
UK cinemas must refuse Israel-sponsored film festival
Picturehouse and Curzon cinemas have already refused to host the festival. The festival has also been refused at the Cines Girona, Barcelona. We believe there is no moral or ethical justification for a British cultural venue to do ‘business as usual’ with any organisation that is sponsored by the Israeli regime while it intensifies its genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.
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Boycott called off as Bristol’s Arnolfini apologises for anti-Palestinian censorship
The boycott of an iconic British arts venue has ended after it apologised for its anti-Palestinian censorship. The Arnolfini in Bristol said it was “truly sorry” for cancelling film and poetry events curated by Bristol Palestine Film Festival in November last year, and committed platforming Palestinian voices.
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Leading artists disengage from British venue that censored Palestine
Portishead’s Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley, Massive Attack’s Robert del Naja, writers Alice Oswald, Nikesh Shukla, Shon Faye, Travis Alabanza and Rachel Holmes are among many of Bristol’s artists who have written a letter accusing the iconic Arnolfini International Centre for Contemporary Arts of “censorship of Palestinian culture”.
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Olivia Colman among 1000+ artists accusing art institutions of censorship on Palestine
More than 1,300 artists, including Academy Award winning Olivia Colman, Olivier Award winners Harriet Walter and Juliet Stevenson, BAFTA winners Aimee Lou Wood and Siobhán McSweeney, Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You), Susanne Wokoma (Enola Holmes), Youseff Kerkour (Napoleon), Nicola Coughlan (Derry Girls, Bridgerton) and Lolly Adefope (Ghosts, Loki), have launched a letter addressed to the arts and culture sector, that accuses cultural institutions across Western countries of:
“repressing, silencing and stigmatising Palestinian voices and perspectives”.
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On Speaking and Silence: the New McCarthyism
Israel and its allies are trying to build a wall of silence around their devastation of Gaza. Around the world, those who seek to break through it are having to contend with an extraordinary and shameful campaign of pressure and threats. No-one who speaks out, from the UN Secretary-General to a London tube-driver, is exempt. Yet the breakthrough has happened.
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Tilda Swinton among 2000+ artists calling for Gaza ceasefire
Renowned actors Tilda Swinton, Steve Coogan, Miriam Margolyes, Peter Mullan, Maxine Peake and Khalid Abdalla are among more than two thousand people from across the arts who have signed a letter saying that: “Our governments are not only tolerating war crimes but aiding and abetting them.”
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Reflections on violence, oppression and a just peace
Artists for Palestine UK redoubles our commitment to fighting for justice, respect and dignity for all people. In what follows, we share statements by international organisations that remind us of the context of the events which we are all now witnessing. We hope this will help to illuminate the root cause of the violence so that we may formulate responses that are grounded in the ethics of genuine care.
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Leading figures urge Imagine Dragons to cancel Baku and Tel Aviv shows
“We believe Imagine Dragons share these values. We urge the group to uphold them by canceling the shows in Baku and Tel Aviv, and consistently speaking out for everyone’s safety and everyone’s human rights. Palestinians and Armenians, like all people, deserve to live in freedom, dignity, and safety. It’s not too late for Imagine Dragons to do the right thing. It would be a meaningful contribution towards freedom, justice and equality for all.”
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The Barbican, Censorship, and Anti-Palestinian Racism
Artists for Palestine UK is shocked at reports that the Barbican told a…
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Influential cultural figures around the world praise Barcelona’s suspension of ties with Israel
Actors Mark Ruffalo, Miriam Margolyes and Alia Shawkat, authors Arundhati Roy, Naomi Klein and 2022 Nobel laureate for literature Annie Ernaux are among more than 50 public figures to welcome the mayor of Barcelona’s suspension of ties with official Israeli institutions.
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Leading artists oppose Barbican’s partnership with apartheid Israeli embassy
More than fifty artists, including poet and writer Benjamin Zephaniah, actor Miriam Margolyes, DJ The Blessed Madonna and Turner Prize co-winning artist Tai Shani have called on London arts venue the Barbican Centre to end its partnership with the embassy of Israel.
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Leading lights of British theatre accuse European Drama Prize of modern-day McCarthyism
More than 180 actors, writers and producers have accused the jury of the 2022 European Drama Prize in Germany of “modern-day McCarthyism”, after it withdrew a Lifetime Achievement Award from renowned British playwright Caryl Churchill over her support for Palestinian rights.
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Campaign to silence rapper and campaigner Lowkey reaches new low
The Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival, a trade union-organised ‘celebration of solidarity’, disinvited the pro-Palestinian artist following behind-the-scenes pressure.
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Israeli filmmakers call on Locarno Festival to drop ‘complicit’ Israeli film
Israeli filmmakers and artists including Oscar-nominated director Guy Davidi and Turner Prize co-winner Tai Shani have urged Locarno International Film Festival to cancel its Thursday screening of an Israeli film due to concerns over its funding.
Last week, Artists for Palestine UK revealed that the foundation contractually obligates filmmakers to undertake “that there is not and will not be in the film any presentation, statement or message that calls for … denial of the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state [or] marking Independence Day or the day of the establishment of the state as a day of mourning”.
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Israel’s largest public film fund attaches political strings to its funding
We have obtained a full copy of the standard contract of the Yehoshua Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts’s Israel Cinema Project that filmmakers must sign before receiving funding. Rabinovich’s Cinema Project is Israel’s largest film fund. The Rabinovich Foundation obligates filmmakers to whitewash apartheid and ethnic cleansing.
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Service of thanksgiving for journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to be held at Fleet Street church
A service of thanksgiving for journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is to be held at St Bride’s, Fleet Street, London’s ‘journalists’ church’, on June 28th.
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Leading artists demand accountability for Israel’s killing of Palestinian journalist
More than a hundred artists, including Hollywood stars, acclaimed authors and prominent musicians, call for “meaningful measures to ensure accountability for the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh and all other Palestinian civilians”
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Protect the Right to Boycott
As artists and cultural workers, and as citizens, we strongly affirm our collective commitment to boycott Israeli apartheid until Palestine is free, regardless of government legislation. We are proud to be one of more than 40 organisations which have come together in the Right to Boycott Campaign to oppose the UK government’s ‘anti-boycott bill’.
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Artists’ Solidarity: against censorship, against dismissal, for Palestine.
More than half of the artists participating in British Art Show 9 in Manchester have withdrawn in support of ‘political freedom and artistic expression in cultural institutions and universities across the UK’.
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Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo, and Gael García Bernal among those supporting Emma Watson’s Palestine solidarity post
They’re joined by Jim Jarmusch, Peter Capaldi, Harriet Walter, Viggo Mortensen, Maxine Peake, Asif Kapadia and many others.
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Emma Watson support for Palestine: Israel advocates increasingly desperate as public figures speak out
When those with the public profile of Emma Watson speak out, it becomes all the harder for apartheid’s advocates to whitewash long-standing injustice. We encourage others in a similar position to follow her example: their words will make a difference.
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Dear Black Eyed Peas: Where’s the Love for Palestinians?
In the city where you are scheduled to play, indigenous Palestinians are subject to constant state violence. The forced expulsion of Palestinian Jerusalemites from their homes is a war crime. In May this year, the Israeli army’s unprovoked incursion into the Al-Aqsa mosque injured over 300 Palestinian worshippers. Together these crimes ignited protests all over Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, only to be swiftly followed by Israeli F16s bombing the Gaza Strip – killing 260 Palestinians, 129 of them civilians including 66 children and 40 women.
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Leading writers support Sally Rooney decision to refuse publication in Israel
Seventy prominent writers, poets and playwrights from several continents, have signed a letter endorsing Sally Rooney’s decision to turn down an offer with an Israel publishing house, describing it as: “an exemplary response to the mounting injustices inflicted on Palestinians”.
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Susan Sarandon, Claire Foy, Mark Ruffalo, Eric Cantona call for an immediate end to Israeli attacks on Palestinian human rights groups
More than 100 public figures urge the international community to protect Palestinian human rights defenders.
Musicians Laurie Anderson, David Byrne, Jarvis Cocker and Massive Attack, film directors Laura Poitras, Jim Jarmusch and Costa Gravas, authors Philip Pullman, Naomi Klein, Irvine Welsh, Colm Tóibín and Monica Ali — are among dozens of leading artists who have signed a statement urging the international community to act.
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The Whitworth Gallery, lobby groups, and the right to speak about Palestine
The issues exposed by this dangerous precedent could not be more critical, since they hit at the heart of the proper functioning of cultural institutions in a democracy. On the one hand, the principle of independence and curatorial integrity of cultural institutions to operate free from interference from lobby groups or vested interests, and on the other, the right of artists to bear witness, including through expressions of solidarity with marginalised peoples.
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Artists must reject ‘bothsidesism’ – because it serves the powerful and entrenches injustice
Artists for Palestine UK is troubled that the British Actors Network (BAN) has chosen to host an organisation that is funded by the UK government and currently promoted by education secretary, Gavin Williamson, called ‘Solutions Not Sides’. The event is billed as an educational workshop for actors that aims to promote ‘conflict resolution’ as an approach for understanding the situation in Israel-Palestine.
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Thousands of artists call for an end to complicity with Israeli apartheid
It is as if a dam has burst. The last few days have seen an unprecedented outpouring of solidarity with Palestinians from artists and cultural organisations around the world. Half a century ago, there was massive support for a cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa. Now, artists and cultural workers are mobilising on a similar scale against Israel’s system of apartheid, calling variously for boycotts, practical acts of solidarity with Palestinians and, in particular, an end to co-operation with cultural organisations that are complicit with apartheid.
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Israel Must Be Held To Account For Ongoing Violence Against Palestinians
We share with millions our anger at the indiscriminate and pitiless bombing of the Gaza Strip; at the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah; at the armed invasion of the Al-Aqsa compound during the holy month of Ramadan; at the brutal attacks on peaceful protests in the Occupied West Bank, and on Palestinian citizens of Israel in towns within Israel.
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Celebrated film director Ken Loach wrongly condemned by Oxford students
As dozens of artists wrote in a statement of support for Ken Loach on Monday: ‘We cannot fight racism by demonising and silencing supporters of Palestinian rights’.
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Artists stand with Ken Loach and against McCarthyism
We are deeply troubled to learn of a McCarthyite campaign demanding Oxford University cancel a public event with director Ken Loach discussing his distinguished career in film.
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Brian Eno: Artists must call out Germany’s anti-Palestinian witch-hunt
A 2019 parliamentary resolution has had a chilling effect on critics of Israeli…
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Palestinian artists & cultural organisations call on internationals to cancel engagements in Israel
“Two years ago, just a short drive from apartheid Tel Aviv, Israel destroyed an important cultural centre in Gaza, the Said al-Mishal, with targeted airstrikes. Violations and abuses against Palestinian musicians, poets, actors and other artists are commonplace, including in occupied East Jerusalem.
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Leading artists condemn Israeli raids on Palestinian cultural centres & call for sanctions
Steve Coogan, Peter Gabriel, Massive Attack, Benjamin Zephaniah, Maxine Peake and Philip Pullman are among 60+ cultural figures to put their names to an open letter condemning attacks on key Palestinian cultural centres.
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Calling for boycott, divestment, sanctions is a human right, rules European Court
Governments and political parties across Europe have sought to criminalise the non-violent movement for BDS. Yesterday, the European Court of Human Rights stopped that insidious tendency in its tracks.
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Speak out to stop annexation now
Mercury award-winning band Wolf Alice, authors Philip Pullman, Irvine Welsh, Colm Tóibín, and Selma Dabbagh, actors Harriet Walter and Julie Christie are among cultural figures joining MPs, trade unions and organisations to call on the UK government and political parties to: “support the call of Palestinian civil society organisations for effective measures by all States to stop Israel’s illegal annexation of the occupied West Bank”.
Artists for Palestine UK is proud to partner on the launch of this vital call to action, the text of which is reproduced below.
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Threats to anti-racism charity lead to Ken Loach stepping down as competition judge
– Show Racism the Red Card commends Loach’s ‘commitment to fighting racism’
– Charity’s funding put at risk by unfounded allegations -
Anti-racism charity confirms Ken Loach as judge for its School Competition
Show Racism the Red Card has resisted pressure to ditch campaigning film-maker Ken Loach as a judge for its annual School Competition.
Eric Cantona, Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Mark Rylance, Miriam Margolyes OBE, Dame Marina Warner, Baroness Blackstone, Steve Coogan and many other leading figures have backed Loach. -
Artswatch Palestine: September – December 2019
Our digest of news from Israel’s cultural war against the Palestinians Cádiz –…
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Aurora: Don’t be a sword, cancel Tel Aviv
Barby Club in Tel Aviv, where Aurora is booked to perform two shows in November, is one such cultural institution. Barby brazenly wears its complicity like a badge of honour, most clearly when it handed out free t-shirts to Israeli occupation forces engaged in the 2014 massacres in Gaza that left more than 2,200 Palestinians, including 500 children, dead.
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Aldeburgh DocFest disinvites author, invites Israel lobby CEO to discuss ‘GAZA’
On Sunday, Aldeburgh Documentary Festival will host a discussion that follows a screening…
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Open letter: the demand that artists disavow BDS is not a legitimate request
Open letter to Aachen Mayor, Marcel Philipp: ‘We are scandalized that you’d make your approval of the city’s decision to honor artist Walid Raad dependant upon his disavowal of the BDS movement.’
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Palestinian and Israeli Artists Urge Aurora: Don’t Play Israel!
Norwegian pop star Aurora is booked to play Tel Aviv on November 14th and 15th. Palestinian artists, and Israeli artists, have each launched appeals to the singer.
Artists for Palestine UK is pleased to host both letters below.
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Artswatch Palestine: April – August 2019
*Art and power
* Palfest re-formed
* Borders and visas
* Reinventing Jerusalem
*A spectacle of demolition
*A spectacle of punishment
* Lopez performs in Israel, and Egypt -
Open letter to UK artists booked for Pop-Kultur Berlin 2019
Artists for Palestine UK has joined the call from Palestinians, and also from Israeli artists and Israeli human rights defenders, and from LGBTQI+ campaigners in Berlin, for participating artists to withdraw from Pop-Kultur Berlin 2019, in protest at the festival’s continued partnership with the Israeli embassy.
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Israeli artists: Boycott Pop-Kultur Berlin festival
As Israeli artists, musicians, and filmmakers, we support the Palestinian call to boycott Pop-Kultur Berlin festival 2019, given its complicity with Israel’s racist regime.
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Boots Riley, Naomi Klein among 100+ figures demanding free speech on BDS movement for Palestinian rights
Attempts in Germany to impose political conditions on artists who support Palestinian rights, particularly targeting black, POC and queer artists, comprise a shameful trend of censorship, anti-Palestinian repression, and attacks on freedom of conscience.
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‘UK government must end isolation of artists from Gaza’: hundreds of academics and artists speak out
The letter below criticises the UK government’s shameful ‘hostile environment’ policy, as it…
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Mike Leigh, Leila Sansour, Pratibha Parmar, Ken Loach and others say UK cinemas should boycott Israeli film festival Seret
In our letter published in the Guardian yesterday and copied below, 20 British filmmakers and…
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Artswatch Palestine: December – March 2019
Our digest of news from Israel’s cultural war against the Palestinians
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Brian Eno: Israel must not be allowed to use Eurovision as a propaganda tool
“Those of us who make art and culture for a living thrive on free and open communication. So what should we do when we see culture becoming part of a political agenda? “Music unites,” says UK Eurovision entrant Michael Rice. What happens when a powerful state uses art as propaganda, to distract from its immoral and illegal behaviour? Everybody involved in the Eurovision song contest this year should understand that this is what is happening.
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Artswatch Palestine: September- November 2018
Palestinian author Susan Abulhawa (pictured) was on her way to Palestine Literature Festival…
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Judy Joo: Please stand with Palestinians
* In Gaza 97% of water is currently contaminated by sewage and/or salt due…
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DJs, producers, electronic musicians join boycott of Israel en masse
Today a wave of DJs, producers, record labels, electronic musicians are speaking up for Palestine and endorsing the cultural boycott of Israel. Using the hashtag #DJsForPalestine, this collective action follows a similar wave from bands, including artists such as Portishead and Wolf Alice, who came out in protest using the hashtag #ArtistsForPalestine, shortly after Israel’s massacre of unarmed Palestinian protesters in Gaza this May.
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Artists call for boycott of Israel-hosted Eurovision 2019 – UK signatories
Artists, musicians and writers from 18 countries have published an open letter condemning the proposed hosting of Eurovision 2019 in Israel, citing the killing of unarmed Palestinian protesters, saying that the contest should be moved to a non-divisive location, and a country with a better human rights record.
The full list British signatories to the letter can be seen here.
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Artswatch Palestine: June-August 2018
Artswatch: June-August report-
*Gaza – The War Against Culture.
*Gaza – The War Over Meaning
*Gaza – The Forbidden Subject
*Tatour – The Forbidden Poet
*Nakba – The Forbidden History
*Daniel Barenboim: Israel Is An Apartheid State
*Artists In Opposition To Israel’s Policies -
Patti Smith, Massive Attack, Viggo Mortensen among 70+ artists demanding free speech on Palestine
The full length version of the letter affirms that, ‘Boycotts which are anchored in universal human rights and aimed at achieving justice for marginalized and oppressed communities are a legitimate nonviolent tactic. They have been used worldwide, including against apartheid in South Africa and the Jim Crow segregation laws in the United States.’
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Young Fathers affirm support for Palestinian rights despite cancellation by German arts festival
“Regrettably, Young Fathers will not appear at Ruhrtrienalle Festival this year as the organisers have decided to cancel our show due to our views opposing the current Israeli Government’s grave violations of the human rights of the Palestinian people and our support of the non-violent and anti racist human rights movement, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
We feel it is a wrong and deeply unfair decision by the festival to take this stance and to also ask us to distance ourselves from our human rights principles in order for the appearance to go ahead…”
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Artists join the boycott of Israel en masse
Following Israel’s massacre in Gaza in which snipers targeted thousands of unarmed Palestinian protestors, also attacking medics, journalists, photographers and children – a coordinated wave of bands have publicly endorsed the cultural boycott of Israel in support of Palestinian rights, and for freedom, justice and equality.
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Award-winning director withdraws film from Seret London Israel Film & TV Festival
“I do not want my film, or my name, to be used to portray an image of Israel as a “melting pot of cultures and religions”.
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Shopping announce withdrawal from Pop-Kultur Berlin in solidarity with Palestinians
‘As a band, Shopping are and will always be completely opposed to any form of oppression and discrimination, including homophobia, transphobia, colonialism and racism. We stand firmly against antisemitism and Islamophobia. For these reasons, and in harmony with the principles of the nonviolent, Divestment and Sanctions movement for Palestinian rights, we affirm our solidarity with the Palestinian call for BDS.’
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Film-makers call on cinemas to reject Israel-sponsored festival
“We, filmmakers, artists and journalists call on our cultural institutions to uphold ethical standards: they should refuse to provide platforms for events sponsored by a regime that is guilty of systematic, large-scale human rights violations. “
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Jamiroquai, will you stand with the Palestinians?
Palestinians pay with life and limb for their protests, and they ask for your support. Will you stand with them? Will you cancel your concert in Israel?
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Morcheeba: Please don’t give comfort to the oppressor
‘Your concert, as Palestinians mark 70 years of dispossession, means a lot to the Israeli government. They use the presence of artists, musicians and writers coming to Israel as a signal to the world, and to the citizens of Israel, that nothing too terrible is taking place there – nothing that would demand urgent attention to Palestinian rights.’
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Artswatch Palestine: October – December 2017
Our regular report on Israel’s war on Palestinian cultural life and expression.
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Artists to Lorde: individual messages of support
Personal messages of solidarity and support to Lorde from Brian Eno and Roger Water, Peter Garbiel and more…
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Leading artists stand with Lorde
‘We deplore the bullying tactics being used to defend injustice against Palestinians and to suppress an artist’s freedom of conscience. We support Lorde’s right to take a stand.’
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Artists’ statements on Trump and occupied Jerusalem
Statements by musicians Peter Gabriel and Robert Wyatt, poet Michael Rosen, playwright Caryl Churchill, writers Selma Dabbagh, Hari Kunzru and Ahmed Masoud, producer Kate Parker and filmmaker Ken Loach – on Trump and the occupation of Jerusalem.
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Israel’s apartheid regime salutes Nick Cave
Nick Cave declared his love for Israel, and the Israeli regime reciprocated, providing further proof, if any were needed, of the propaganda value to Israel of appearances by international artists. We have sampled, and repropduced below, tweets from nine Israeli government bodies and spokespeople and seven lobby groups, all of which work hard to counter the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) human rights movement and promote Israel’s interests.
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Leading writers respond to Nick Cave
“Who would have thought it, that Nick Cave would allow himself to ease the conscience of a major oppressor? No-one is ‘trying to silence artists’, it is children who are being silenced, it is a whole people that is being denied its right to exist, and it is common decency, not artistic freedom, that is at stake in Israel’s ongoing aggression towards the Palestinians… Fighting for common decency is a matter of solidarity — of maintaining a vision of what is right, in the face of overwhelming powers — and he has, by his vanity, broken a picket-line.” Andrew O’Hagan, author.
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Artists respond to Nick Cave’s comments
Waters: ‘Nick thinks this is about censorship of his music? What? Nick, with all due respect, your music is irrelevant to this issue, so is mine, so is Brian Eno’s so is Beethoven’s, this isn’t about music, it’s about human rights.’
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Nick Cave, who is being silenced ?
Nick Cave has used the opportunity of a press conference in Israel to speak out about ‘silencing’. People around the world will be surprised to read that Cave has chosen not to speak out about the trial of the Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour or the targeting of journalist Makbula Nasser in Israel; nor the indefinite imprisonment without charge or trial of Palestinian artists, journalists and human rights defenders in the occupied West Bank; nor of the denial of permits for Palestinians musicians or of cancer patients seeking to exit Gaza.
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Artswatch Palestine: August-September 2017
Not the Radiohead Experience
A musician from East Jerusalem said Israeli officials jeopardised his band’s UK tour last week by withholding his electric guitar at security at Ben-Gurion Airport
Apo Sahagian, the lead singer of Apo and the Apostles, said security officials held his guitar back for further testing, promising that it would be on the next EasyJet flight to Luton, but after three days there was still no sign.
