boycott from within letter to cassandra wilson

8/3/2019 Boycott from Within letter to Cassandra Wilson

1/3

http://boycottisrael.info

From Israeli Citizens - Cassandra Wilson, Please Do Not Support Selective

Empowerment Of Women Under Israeli Apartheid

Dear Cassandra Wilson,

We are citizens of Israel who support the Palestinian civil society call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions

(BDS) against Israel's policies of colonialism, occupation and apartheid towards the Palestinian people. We

have recently learned of your planned concert in Israel, and therefore write in order to urge you not to

come. Please hear us out.

Israel's attempts to mask systematic human-rights abuses and decades-long oppression against thePalestinians, relies on its ability to maintain a progressive and democratic image in the eyes of the

international community. Israel often goes as far as promoting itself as "the only Democracy in the Middle

East". Israel's apartheid policies, however, are inherent even to something as seemingly light-hearted and

joyous as a concert: Palestinian fans of your music living under the brutal military occupation of the

West Bank or the hermetic siege of the Gaza Strip will be prohibited from coming to Holon and

enjoy your performance. These 4 millions who are being denied their most fundamental rights

include many Palestinian women, whom the Isha festival will certainly not empower.

Palestinian Freedom Riders have recently challenged Israeli segregated buses which they are not allowed to

travel on. These buses carry instead Israeli settlers to and from their homes, illegaly built on stolen land. 1

The ethnic-supremacist state of mind does not end there, unfortunately, as we have learned only yesterday

of the Tel-Aviv city councilman who appealed to the state to allocate segregated buses for African refugees

and migrant workers in the city.2

Prominent figures, including many musicians and artists, have come here to witness for themselves the

treatment of Palestinians living under Israeli rule, and have vowed not to lend their legitimacy to these

crimes.

Alice Walkermade the following comments on her visit to Palestine: "Going through Israeli checkpoints is

like going back in time to American Civil Rights struggle...I am a big supporter of BDS. I frankly think that it

is the best, absolutely the best way."3

"One of the things so painful to remember about the segregated south is that no matter what white people

did to them black people were not allowed to fight back, not even with a word or a glance, hence the

expression reckless eye-balling which led many a black person to be beaten or killed. The idea that the

people of Palestine are not even supposed to fight back... To collectively punish them (by bombing and


2/3


starvation) for electing their own government in a democratic election acknowledged by most observers to

have been fair, is sadistic as well as internationally condemned as illegal."4

ProfessorRobin Kelleyoffers this analysis: "My last book was about [the jazz musician] Thelonious Monk.

... And so for people of my generation, the Israel-South Africa nexus, dispossession of Palestinians ... these

were the key questions for anyone politically active in the 1980s. witnessed a level of racist violence that

I hadnt even seen growing up as a black person here in the States (laughs), I have to say, and Ive been

beat by the cops. The level of racist violence from the settlers is kind of astounding. The key thing was

the kind of engagement that helped us better understand why the boycott is central... And part of what the

boycott does is it delegitimizes the claim that this is a normal situation. Its not a normal situation, its a

settler-colonial situation, a situation of oppression."5

The Palestinian people are being denied some elementary freedoms: the freedom of movement, the

freedom to access their stolen lands and the freedom to protest injustice without facing brutal repression. 6

Those living in the Gaza strip (56% of whom are children) live under a debilitating siege, limiting their

access to water, medical supplies, and construction material.7 This unimaginable situation takes place only

an hour away from your scheduled performance. In the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, 40 minutes

away from the scheduled venue, kids are being abducted from their homes, in violation of international law,

and taken into violent police interrogations with no access to their parents or a lawyer.8

Representatives of Palestinian civil society, including over 170 different organizations such as women,

academic and workers organizations, have called for a boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign

against Israels policies. International artists are asked not to perform in Israel until it abides by its

obligations under international law and reverses these policies.9The call is all the more relevant for a

concert such as yours, which is scheduled to take place at a state-owned venue, as part of a state-

sponsored event, sponsored by the municipality of Holon as well as the Israeli army radio station

(Galei Tzahal).

Many artists have come to perform here with the good will and intention to use their art as a means of

changing Israeli public opinion and spreading the message of peace. One such example would be that of

Roger Waters. These artists have later come to realize that their performance, as well-meaning as it was,

has been hijacked and used to send a green light to the ongoing Israeli policies of oppression.

We have therefore learned that not performing is important to the promotion of justice in this region, as

Israeli policy makers are coming to understand that the international community does not approve of their

brutal policies towards the people of Palestine. Some prominent artists have stated:

Roger Waters: In my view, the abhorrent and draconian control that Israel wields over the besieged

Palestinians in Gaza, and the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank (including East Jerusalem), coupledwith its denial of the rights of refugees to return to their homes in Israel, demands that fair minded people


3/3


around the world support the Palestinians in their civil, nonviolent resistance. For me it means declaring my

intention to stand in solidarity, not only with the people of Palestine, but also with the many thousands of

Israelis who disagree with their governments racist and colonial policies, by joining a campaign of Boycott,

Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, until it satisfies three basic human rights demanded in

international law.10

Faithless: Weve been asked to do some shows this summer in your country and, with the heaviest of

hearts, I have regretfully declined the invitation. While human beings are being willfully denied not just

their rights but their needs for their children and grandparents and themselves, I feel deeply that I should

not be sending even tacit signals that this is either normal or ok.

Macy Gray: I had a reality check and I stated that I definitely would not have played there if I had known

even the little that I know now.11

Understanding that the picket line has clearly been marked and that you cannot avoid taking a political

stand on this matter, we are now asking you to take a moral stand. We ask that you reconsider your

participation in whitewashing Israeli apartheid, please stand against oppression and for liberation, against

deep rooted racism and in favor of justice and equality for all.

Sincerely,

Ronnie Barkan

Naama Farjoun

Yael Kahn

Ofer Neiman

On behalf of

BOYCOTT! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within

1http://electronicintifada.net/blog/linah-alsaafin/palestinians-clarify-goal-freedom-rides-challenge-segregated-israeli-buses

http://electronicintifada.net/blog/maureen/new-video-shows-israeli-forces-dragging-palestinian-freedom-riders-settler-bushttp://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/campaigns/solidarity-with-palestinian-freedom-riders

2http://972mag.com/ta-councilman-calls-for-separate-buses-for-smelly-foreigners/35600/

3http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/resources/interviews/3104-alice-walker-qgoing-through-israeli-checkpoints-is-like-going-back-in-time-

to-american-civil-rights-struggleq4http://pulsemedia.org/2011/06/21/alice-walker-on-palestine/

5http://mondoweiss.net/2012/02/a-level-of-racist-violence-i-have-never-seen-ucla-professor-robin-d-g-kelley-on-palestine-and-the-bds-

movement.html6http://mondoweiss.net/2011/07/lets-stand-with-shireen-al-araj-and-the-courageous-people-of-al-walaja.html

7http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/24/gaza-fishermen-gunboats-israel-navy

8http://www.btselem.org/video/2011/05/child-arrest-silwan

9

http://www.bdsmovement.net/call10http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/economy-of-the-occupation/3374-roger-waters-my-journey-to-bds

11http://twitter.com/#!/MacyGraysLife/status/132598638823223297

boycott from within letter to cassandra wilson

Documents