Szanowni Państwo,
Przekazujemy Państwu apel obywateli Izraela w sprawie udziału w międzynarodowym festiwalu filmów o sztuce “EPOS”. Prosimy Państwa o odstąpienie od uczestnictwa w sponsorowanym przez Izrael przedsięwzięciu, w ramach sprzeciwu wobec polityki apartheidu z rozmysłem stosowanej wobec Palestyńczyków. Wszelkie publiczne przedsięwzięcia, w których biorą udział osobistości z całego świata, pośrednio legitymizują okupację i bezprawne praktyki z tym związane; zagłuszają przemoc hasłami o demokracji i wspieraniu kultury. Jako aktywiści “Kampanii solidarności z Palestyną” w pełni popieramy apel obywateli Izraela i przesyłamy go Państwu do rozważenia.
————————————————————————————————-
AN APPEAL FROM ISRAELI CITIZENS TO LECH MAJEWSKI AND WIKTORIA SZYMANSKA SCHEDULED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EPOS FESTIVAL IN TEL AVIV, FEB. 2012
Dear Lech Majewski and Wiktoria Szymańska
We are a group of Israeli citizens. Some of us are the descendants of Jews from Poland, survivors of the Holocaust. We believe in universal principles of human rights. We are strongly opposed to the systematic violations of human rights carried out by our government against millions of Palestinians. After years of activism, realizing that we cannot change this reality just from within, we have come to support the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and sanctions (BDS) until Israel complies with the principles of international law and universal human-rights. [1] We would like to ask you to reconsider your planned participation in the Epos Festival in Tel Aviv, which is sponsored by the Israeli government.
Israel’s attempts to mask systematic human-rights abuses and decades-long oppression against the Palestinians largely rely on its ability to maintain a progressive and democratic image in the eyes of the international community. It often promotes itself as “the only Democracy in the Middle East”. However, Israel’s apartheid policies are inherent even in something as seemingly light-hearted and joyous as art festivals: Palestinian fans of art living in the West Bank, in a land governed by Israel, are under martial-law and will not be permitted to come to Tel Aviv and enjoy the festival’s events, and the same goes for Palestinians living in Gaza under Israeli siege.
The Palestinian people are denied some of the most elementary freedoms: the freedom of movement, the freedom to access their stolen agricultural land and the freedom to protest without facing life threatening violence: When they demonstrate against the Israeli government, they face brutal treatment. [2] Their relatives in the Gaza strip (44% of which are children under the age of 14) live under siege restricting the needed amount of food, medical supplies, and materials for construction. [3] In the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, 45 minutes away from where you are scheduled to perform, kids are abducted from their houses in violation of international law and taken to violent police interrogations. [4]
The Palestinian call for boycott was issued by over 170 Palestinian civilsociety organizations of diaspora refugees, citizens of Israel and Palestinians under occupation and siege. It is not a boycott of individuals, but rather of Israeli state sponsored institutions. Musicians and artists who decide to comply with the call of the oppressed and refrain from participating in events sponsored by such institutions are responding to an indigenous call from the oppressed people living in the land governed by Israel.
[1] BOYCOTT! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within, http://www.boycottisrael.info/
[2] Let’s stand with Shireen Al-Araj and the courageous people of Al-Walaja http://mondoweiss.net/2011/07/lets-stand-with-shireen-al-araj-and-the-courageous-people-of-al-walaja.html
[3] Guardian reporters experience first-hand Israeli efforts to intimidate Gazafishermen and keep their fishing trips ever closer to shore http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/jul/24/gaza-fishermen-israel
[4] Child Arrest in Silwan http://www.btselem.org/video/2011/05/child-arrest-silwan
[5] Tahrir Envy: An Anti-Occupation Activist’s First Thoughts on the TentProtests in Israel, http://pulsemedia.org/2011/08/05/tahrir-envy-an-anti-occupation-activist…
Noa Abend
Ofer Neiman
Michal Vexler
Renen Raz
on behalf of BOYCOTT! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within
admin@boycottisrael.info, http://boycottisrael.info/
Facebook