Cultural Boycott
CULTURAL BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL
"The end of apartheid stands as one of the crowning accomplishments of the past century, but we would not have succeeded without the help of international pressure-- in particular the divestment movement of the 1980s”.Desmond Tutu
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel was launched in Ramallah in April 2004 by a group of Palestinian academics and intellectuals to join the growing international boycott movement. The Campaign built on the Palestinian call for a comprehensive economic, cultural and academic boycott of Israel issued in August 2002 and a statement made by Palestinian academics and intellectuals in the occupied territories and in the Diaspora calling for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions in October 2003.
The Palestinian Campaign is inspired by the historic role played by people of conscience in the international community of scholars and intellectuals who have shouldered the moral responsibility to fight injustice, as exemplified in their struggle to abolish apartheid in South Africa through diverse forms of boycott.
Boycotting Israeli academic and cultural institutions is an urgently needed form of pressure against Israel that can bring about its compliance with international law and the requirements for a just peace.
Read more about the international Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) on the official web site athttp://www.pacbi.org/
SUPPORTERS AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE CULTURAL BOYCOTT
The cultural boycott of Israel has received the support of famous artists such as musicians Roger Waters and Brian Eno, writers Eduardo Galeano and Arundhati Roy, filmmakers Ken Loach, Joel and Ethan Coen and Jean-Luc Goddard. Waters has called on artists to boycott Israel until Israel ends its occupation, grants full equality to Israeli Arabs and allows all Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.
The Cultural Boycott has targeted international artists who are scheduled to perform in Israel asked them to cancel their performances. Guitarist Carlos Santana cancelled a performance in Israel in 2010, rocker Elvis Costello called off planned gigs in Israel in 2010, citing what he called the "intimidation" and "humiliation" of Palestinians. Gil Scott-Heron who sadly died in May 2011 canceled a planned performance in Tel Aviv in 2010, saying he "hated war".
British bands The Klaxons, Leftfield and Gorillaz Sound System as well as American band Pixies cancelled performances in Israel in June 2010.
Continued campaigning and awareness raising of the actions of the Israeli state will deepen the boycott and persuade more artists to join.
