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John Stalker Productions: Don't "Incubate" Israeli Apartheid, Boycott Israeli "Cultural" Propaganda
beti S.
started this petition to
John Stalker Productions
To John Stalker Productions,
We are writing to you as cultural workers; artists, performers, writers, technicians, musicians, lecturers and teaching staff, ticket takers and box office staff, venue cleaners, venue bar workers, volunteers and everyone else you can think of; to call on you to register our concerns about your upcoming Edinburgh Fringe shows “The City- Hip Hop Opera” by Incubator Theatre.
As you are no doubt aware, Incubator Theatre receives funding from the Israeli Ministry of Culture and Sport and the City of Jerusalem Municipality. The state of Israel’s funding of Incubator Theatre and other cultural and artistic organisations, groups and companies is a clear attempt to whitewash the war crimes of the state of Israel. Amongst these crimes are the ongoing apartheid system within the declared state of Israel, the illegal military occupation of the West Bank, the illegal annexation and occupation of East Jerusalem, and the most recent massacres in Gaza, which Israel has besieged since 2007, denying Palestinians their most basic human rights and turning one of the most densely populated places in the world into an open air prison of 1.8 million people. The state of Israel clearly presents itself to the world as a modern, democratic state, which funds the arts and is heavily invested in culture in order to cover up the aforementioned atrocities against the Palestinian people.
We believe that now, of all times, it is most important for us to vehemently oppose Israel’s attempts to “culture-wash” apartheid, occupation, war crimes and ethnic cleansing. At the time of writing this letter (27/07/14) the Israeli Army has released their figure for the current Palestinian death toll from Gaza. Over 1000 Palestinians have been massacred in 17 days. Of those massacred, huge proportions were children. Israel has calculatedly targeted UN Schools in which hundreds of civilians- displaced by the ongoing massacres- had thought they would be safe; community spaces, mosques and hospitals have also been deliberately targeted. As well as the hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries, more than 140,000 people in Gaza have been displaced by the most recent massacres according to UN Relief Work Agency (UNRWA).
The state of Israel has also escalated its violent repression of Palestinians in the West Bank and the declared state of Israel in recent weeks and days. Today there are reports of the deaths of protesters in the West bank- in Nablus, Beit Omar, Hebron and Qalandia. The international communities’ relationship to the state of Israel must reflect its violent actions against the people of Palestine, and not its fabricated veneer of culture and acceptability.
As cultural workers we feel it is also pertinent to mention the state of Israel’s historic and ongoing repression of Palestinian culture and arts; from the banning of red, green and black (the colours which make up the Palestinian flag) paint during the first Intifada, the banning of artists unions, associations, galleries and studios, to the assassinations of cultural figures such as Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali, and the violent repression of events during Jerusalem’s hosting in 2009 of the ArabCapital of Culture. These are the actions of a state which seeks to repress and suppress the true culture of the land and people it occupies, and not the actions of a state that actually cares about culture.
We stand in solidarity with Palestinian cultural workers, with Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, the declared state of Israel and the worldwide Palestinian Diaspora.
We call on you to cancel the upcoming Incubator Theatre performances and refrain from promoting any future performances by Israeli State funded organisations.
We are writing to you as cultural workers; artists, performers, writers, technicians, musicians, lecturers and teaching staff, ticket takers and box office staff, venue cleaners, venue bar workers, volunteers and everyone else you can think of; to call on you to register our concerns about your upcoming Edinburgh Fringe shows “The City- Hip Hop Opera” by Incubator Theatre.
As you are no doubt aware, Incubator Theatre receives funding from the Israeli Ministry of Culture and Sport and the City of Jerusalem Municipality. The state of Israel’s funding of Incubator Theatre and other cultural and artistic organisations, groups and companies is a clear attempt to whitewash the war crimes of the state of Israel. Amongst these crimes are the ongoing apartheid system within the declared state of Israel, the illegal military occupation of the West Bank, the illegal annexation and occupation of East Jerusalem, and the most recent massacres in Gaza, which Israel has besieged since 2007, denying Palestinians their most basic human rights and turning one of the most densely populated places in the world into an open air prison of 1.8 million people. The state of Israel clearly presents itself to the world as a modern, democratic state, which funds the arts and is heavily invested in culture in order to cover up the aforementioned atrocities against the Palestinian people.
We believe that now, of all times, it is most important for us to vehemently oppose Israel’s attempts to “culture-wash” apartheid, occupation, war crimes and ethnic cleansing. At the time of writing this letter (27/07/14) the Israeli Army has released their figure for the current Palestinian death toll from Gaza. Over 1000 Palestinians have been massacred in 17 days. Of those massacred, huge proportions were children. Israel has calculatedly targeted UN Schools in which hundreds of civilians- displaced by the ongoing massacres- had thought they would be safe; community spaces, mosques and hospitals have also been deliberately targeted. As well as the hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries, more than 140,000 people in Gaza have been displaced by the most recent massacres according to UN Relief Work Agency (UNRWA).
The state of Israel has also escalated its violent repression of Palestinians in the West Bank and the declared state of Israel in recent weeks and days. Today there are reports of the deaths of protesters in the West bank- in Nablus, Beit Omar, Hebron and Qalandia. The international communities’ relationship to the state of Israel must reflect its violent actions against the people of Palestine, and not its fabricated veneer of culture and acceptability.
As cultural workers we feel it is also pertinent to mention the state of Israel’s historic and ongoing repression of Palestinian culture and arts; from the banning of red, green and black (the colours which make up the Palestinian flag) paint during the first Intifada, the banning of artists unions, associations, galleries and studios, to the assassinations of cultural figures such as Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali, and the violent repression of events during Jerusalem’s hosting in 2009 of the ArabCapital of Culture. These are the actions of a state which seeks to repress and suppress the true culture of the land and people it occupies, and not the actions of a state that actually cares about culture.
We stand in solidarity with Palestinian cultural workers, with Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, the declared state of Israel and the worldwide Palestinian Diaspora.
We call on you to cancel the upcoming Incubator Theatre performances and refrain from promoting any future performances by Israeli State funded organisations.
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