Dear Blixa Bargeld and Teho Teardo,
We are citizens of Israel, opposed to our government’s policies of military occupation, apartheid and ethnic cleansing. Many of us are veteran human rights defenders who have long worked against these policies. As part of their struggle for justice and to end these policies, Palestinians called for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) [1], which we fully support. We have come to the conclusion that international involvement is necessary in order to end our government’s daily, systematic war crimes, and violations of Palestinian human rights and lives. Our long years of anti-racism activism have brought us to the understanding that the Cultural Boycott [2] is very effective against the apartheid system in Israel. We, therefore, ask you to respect the Palestinian call and cancel your concert in apartheid Israel.
You are scheduled to perform in Tel Aviv, which similar to how apartheid South Africa used Sun City, is serving as a marketing and propaganda tool. By branding it as a “cool”, “liberal” and “cultural” city, Israel seeks to cover up its crimes against the Palestinians. Your performance in Tel Aviv and your reputation would be particularly valuable for brand Israel to disguise its crimes.
Tel Aviv is part and parcel of Israel's brutal apartheid regime. The military command and control center, which is responsible for massacres in Gaza and the siege policy, is situated at the heart of the city. As was demonstrated in court, the Ministry of Defense, which is situated there, had designed formulas for counting and controlling the caloric intake for the people of Gaza [3]. Tel Aviv municipality promotes state propaganda. While abroad, it represents its image as “cool”, for internal consumption it pays for advertisement posters on bus stops proudly boasting of citizens’ role in the brutal Israeli occupation army [4].
Most of Tel Aviv is built on land stolen from Palestinians, including nine Palestinian villages and most significantly the cultural hub Jaffa [5]. Almost every indigenous Palestinian, in what is now Tel Aviv, was ethnic cleansed in the 1948 Nakba. Tel Aviv municipality lies on the lands of the ethnically cleansed Sumayyel (Al M’asudyia) and Tel Aviv University - on the lands of Shekh Muannis.
Israel is desperate to entice musicians to breach the boycott, in order to undermine the Palestinian struggle for justice. It therefore tried to bribe the outspoken BDS supporter, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, with $10 million, which he rejected [6]. You holding a concert in Israel, after making a documentary about musician Dror Feiler’s participation in a flotilla, intent on breaking Israel’s savage siege of Gaza [7], would be perceived as dismissal of Palestinian suffering. You would become an Israeli propaganda trophy, used to silence the Palestinian voice, crushing their call for boycott.
You might have been contacted by the Israeli propaganda tool CCFP [8], which contacts almost every musician booked to play Israel. Its job is to inflate artists’ expectations of contributing to peace, bamboozle many to believe them performing to a segregated audience would bring people together while ensuring they actually ignore the Palestinian voice. In reality, a concert in Israel today tantamount to receiving tainted money for crossing the picket line.
The Israeli government spends millions against BDS [9] to enable it to continue unhindered oppression of Palestinians. We ask that you consider this significant act of defiance and reject being exploited for culturewash the Israeli crimes, an act that will strengthen justice-based social movements, an act that will instil hope in Palestinians in besieged Gaza, in the militarily occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and among refugees scattered all around the world, prohibited from returning home.
We will gladly answer any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
BOYCOTT! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within
[1]https://bdsmovement.net/call
[2]http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1047
[3]https://electronicintifada.net/content/israels-starvation-diet-gaza/11810 orhttp://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2-279-calories-per-person-how-israel-made-sure-gaza-didn-t-starve.premium-1.470419
[6]http://mondoweiss.net/2013/12/interview-waters-artists/
[7]http://sites.arte.tv/square/de/video/square-fuer-kuenstler-1
[8]http://mondoweiss.net/2013/10/apolitical-organization-combatting/
[9]https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2015/01/21/us-nonprofit-big-grant-from-israel-for-pr-functions/