Image courtesy: Malta Today

We recently learned of your hosting a performance event, “End of the Wall”, presented by the Consulate General of Israel, Bengaluru on the 12th of September. We wish to bring to your attention to some urgent concerns raised by this. 

Israel is a settler-colonial and apartheid state. Palestinian people in the West Bank live under its brutal occupation, and the 2 million Palestinians in Gaza have been living under an over a decade-long siege and blockade, witnessing repeated massacres in the period. Israel works diligently to cover up these massacres and war crimes because it’s bad for its “image”, and through its agencies whitewashes its crimes to present itself as a liberal, cultural space. This “Brand Israel” project has seen numerous manifestations across the world and in India, especially under the regime of Netanyahu’s new-found ally Mr Modi. 

This event, being hosted at your premises, is part of this “cover-up” project which has been opposed and called out by artists and institutions across the world. Just a couple of weeks prior to this event, the Consulate General of Israel in Mumbai organised a discussion on Hindutva and Zionism, laying bare the real motivation behind the growing ties between India and Israel. It should be concerning, that its parallel agency in Bengaluru is organizing a dance performance, after having hosted a discussion promoting racist ideologies. 

Particularly outrageous is the advertised “message” of this event. Talking about “walls” and “physical boundaries” in an event organised by an agency of the state of Israel, while an actual, physical, 8 metres high and thousands of kilometres long concrete wall, constructed by Israel, segregates occupied West Bank, breaking up homes, schools, villages, cities, and families takes a rare kind of hypocrisy. The International Court of Justice, in its 2004 Advisory Opinion, declared this wall to be illegal, asking for its dismantling and for reparations to Palestinians. Israel continues to build this wall so that it can turn occupied West Bank into South African style bantustans. It is this perfection of the tools of repression that India has been borrowing from Israel, imposing a siege and communication black out in Kashmir for over a month.

We, members of the undersigned fora, support the call by Palestinian artists, academics and overwhelming majority of Palestinian civil society to boycott artistic tie-ups with the state of Israel and its agencies and lobby groups. In doing so, we are also respecting the work of art itself, which must not be allowed to be cynically used by Israel for whitewashing its decades long violations of international law and Palestinian human rights. We urge you to reconsider your decision to host this event.

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum
 

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Dozens of Spanish cities declaring themselves ‘Free of Israeli Apartheid’ (Graphic: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement )

An unprecedented victory for the BDS movement and for Palestine solidarity groups across the Spanish state that have prevailed against relentless Israel lobby attempts to intimidate them into silence through propaganda and expensive court cases …

Ironically, Netanyahu has recently boasted that Israel has effectively “defeated” the BDS movement. My personal reaction to the media at the time was:

“Netanyahu’s peculiar claim that his government has defeated the BDS movement would have been worthy of a serious response if it weren’t so outlandish, false and laughable.

The claim comes in direct response to a professional report issued by the Israeli state comptroller accusing the Netanyahu government of utter “failure” in responding to the impressive growth of the BDS movement in recent years.

Despite its undeniable influence in the US Congress and, by extension, in Brussels and other world capitals, the fact that most in the Israeli establishment recognize today is that BDS is winning at the grassroots level, where Israel is losing the global battle for hearts and minds. It is in this arena where our possession of the moral higher ground trumps Israel’s military, financial and political prowess, which is deemed irrelevant.

A quick look at the top 11 achievements of BDS since the beginning of 2016, during the height of Israel’s war of repression and lawfare against the movement, reveals how fast the movement is growing. It also reveals how delusional Netanyahu has become in his desperate attempt to deflect internal condemnation of his failure to stop BDS.”

The inspiring news below from the Spanish state will amplify not only the delusional state of Israel’s far-right leaders but also their deep-seated  — and now famed — aversion to the truth!

— Omar Barghouti

Cadiz, provincial capital in the autonomous community of Andalusia in the Spanish state, has become the latest municipality to pass a motion supporting the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights and declaring itself an Israeli “Apartheid Free Zone”.

With a population of 120,000, Cadiz joins more than 50 cities and towns across the Spanish state which have voted to declare themselves spaces free from Israeli apartheid. Other famous Apartheid Free municipalities include Gran Canaria, Santiago de Compostela, Xixón-Gijón, Sevilla, Córdoba and Santa Eulària in Ibiza.

Inspired in part by a similar campaign during the struggle against apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s, the Israeli Apartheid Free Zone campaign, led by the Solidarity Network Against the Occupation of Palestine (RESCOP), seeks to create ‘islands of political consciousness’ and to break local ties with Israel’s regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid, as well as with international corporations and institutions that are complicit in the maintenance of Israel’s violations of international law.

The campaign, which is supported  by  social movements, businesses, schools, media and public institutions from across the Spanish state, has created a map indicating spaces free from Israeli apartheid.
 

Map of Israeli Apartheid Free space (HALS) (Screenshot: boicotisrael.net/elai/mapa/)

By declaring themselves Israeli Apartheid Free Zones, local authorities agree to boycott corporations complicit in violations of international law and the rights of Palestinians as well as break ties with the Israeli regime and its complicit institutions. They will also support local awareness raising efforts and commit to conscientious procurement policies based on the human rights of the Palestinian people.

Riya Hassan, European coordinator for the Palestinians BDS National Committee (BNC), said:
 

Attacks on a movement for freedom, justice and equality

Growing public support for the BDS movement for Palestinian human rights has prompted Israel and its allies to launch an unprecedented, well-funded and anti-democratic attack against everyone seeking to hold Israel accountable to international law and UN resolutions, especially through BDS advocacy.

The Israeli-sponsored attacks on the BDS movement aim to put pressure on governments, legislators and officials to curtail BDS civic actions and adopt repressive measures that infringe upon their respective citizens’ civil and political liberties at large.

In the Spanish state, attempts to silence the BDS movement, particularly on an institutional level, have been led by ACOM, a pro-Israeli Madrid-based lobby group.

ACOM has launched a number of legal appeals against local councils that have declared themselves Israeli Apartheid Free Zones.

However, ACOM’s strategy of intimidation has not been successful. Targeted cities have defended the democratic outcome of the votes, and informed courts, such as  the First Administrative Court of Gijon, refused to accept ACOM’s complaints.

Similar legal charges were lodged against three local councils in the UK by the  so-called Jewish Human Rights Watch, a London based Israel lobby group. Also there, the UK High Court rejected the complaints and ruled in favour of the three local councils which had passed resolutions in support of targeted boycotts of Israel’s occupation.

RESCOP commented in a statement: :
 

This latest decision by the city of Cadiz to join the inspiring wave of other Spanish cities and towns in declaring themselves zones free from Israeli apartheid is a sign that citizens and elected representatives are not intimidated by ACOM’s legal threats.

“By supporting the BDS movement for Palestinian rights and choosing not to engage with institutions and corporations directly involved in Israel’s egregious crimes against the Palestinian people, people of conscience and municipalities across the Spanish state are taking a concrete step to hold Israel accountable  for its crimes against the Palestinian people,” Riya Hassan concluded.

Want to start your own local campaign? Download our guide for campaigners here.

LIST OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONS DECLARED ELAI AND / OR ADHERED TO BDS IN THE SPANISH STATE (until August 11, 2016)
Andalucía
Diputación de Sevilla
Ayuntamiento de La Roda
Ayuntamiento Castro del Río
Ayunamiento de Montoro
Ayuntamiento de Mairena del Aljarafe
Ayuntamiento Los Corrales
Ayuntamiento Alhaurín de la Torre
Ayuntamiento de Campillos
Ayuntamiento de Casares
Diputación de Córdoba
Ayuntamiento de Velvez-Málaga
Ayuntamiento de San Roque
Ayuntamiento de San Fernando
Catalunya
Ajuntament de Artés
Ajuntament de Sant Pere de Ruidebitlles
Ajuntament de Molins de Rei
Ajuntament de Sant Cebriá de Vallalta
Ajuntamnet de Badalona
Ajuntament de Sant Celoni
Ajuntament de Ripollet
Ajuntament de Sant Feliu de Llobregat
Ajuntament de Abrera
Ajuntament de Sant Boi de Llobregat
Ajuntament de Terrasa
Ajuntament de Olesa de Montserrat
Ajuntament de Sant Adrià de Besòs
Ajuntament de Sant Quirze del Vallès
Ajuntament de Barberá del Vallès
Ajuntament de Viladamat
Madrid
Ayuntamiento de Navalafuente
Ayuntamiento de Rivas-Vaciamadrid
Asturies
Ayuntamiento de Corvera
Ayuntamiento de Castrillón
Ayuntamiento de Gijón
Ayuntamieno de Llangreu
Galiza
O Concello de Compostela
Concello de Oleiros
Islas Canarias
Cabildo de Gran Canaria
Ayuntamiento de Telde
Aragón
Ayuntamiento de Sabiñánigo
País Valencià
Ajuntament de Alcoi
Ajuntament de Muro
Ajuntament de Onda
Ajuntament de Concentaina
Ajuntament de Catarroja
Ajuntament de Xeraco
Ajuntament de Benlloch
Ajuntament de Petrer
Castilla y León
Ayuntamiento de Viloria del Henar
Illes Balears
Ajuntament de Santa Euràlia

This article was first published on Mondoweiss.
 

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