Showing posts with label # Cultural Boycott # BDS # Israel's Meteor Festival # News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label # Cultural Boycott # BDS # Israel's Meteor Festival # News. Show all posts

Monday 3 September 2018

Meteors falling from the sky


Lana Del Rey's cancellation on Saturday of her performance at Israel's Meteor Festival has elicited many and varied responses with pressure now being applied on other musicians on social media to refrain from playing at the festival in Kibbutz Lehavot Habashan at the end of the week on land that is inaccessible to millions of Palestinians.
Already  up to 15 international bands  have joined her, and cancelled.their reversal marks a setback for Israel, which aims to prevent politics from infiltrating the arts.The campaign for Boycott, Divestment. Sanctions movement (BDS) urges businesses,artists and universities to sever ties with Israel. It says it is a nonviolent way to promote the Palestinian cause, signifying a meaningful contribution to the Palestinians struggle for freedom, justice and equality. There is a long history of artists  either cancelling performances in Israel or publicly joining the cultural boycott, vowing not to play music, accept awards, or attend events in the country until the colonial oppression and human rights abuses of Palestinians  in the West Bank and Gaza comes to and end and  continue to respect the Palestinians non-violent picket line.
The pressure exerted  by the BDS movement seems to be working, so a heartfelt thanks to all who have respected the boycott, their cancellation is a major blow and rejection of the Israeli governments efforts to use art and culture to whitewash and beautify its military occupation and apartheid system.
Forty years ago festival organisers, all over the world stood with South Africans struggling against apartheid, endorsing the BDS campaign against South Africa, now more than ever, we are morally obliged to stand  with the oppressed Palestinian people.

https://secure.everyaction.com/ZZpV3y6jZEy55WkfkjftmA2?ms=PACBI

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-all-the-artists-who-have-pulled-out-of-israel-s-meteor-festival-1.6436242?utm_campaign=General&utm_medium=web_push&utm_source=P