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Israel has consciously adopted a program of cultural and academic outreach
to blunt and deflect criticism of its policies, particularly in the wake of its massacre in Gaza. “We
will send well-known novelists and writers overseas, theater companies, exhibits,” said Arye Mekel, the [foreign] ministry’s
deputy director general for cultural affairs. “This way you show Israel’s prettier face, so we are not thought
of purely in the context of war.” (After Gaza, Israel Grapples With Crisis
of Isolation, Ethan Bronner, New York Times, March 19, 2009).[i] Just as large portions of the world united in boycotting
cultural, sports and academic events sponsored by or a part of the apartheid era government of South Africa, there is a growing
call for boycotting Israeli sponsored cultural, sports and academic events. Culture is clearly being used
by the Israelis as a “soft weapon” counterpart to its military campaigns. “Some Israeli
officials say they believe that what the country needs is to “rebrand” itself. They say Israel spends far too
much time defending actions against its enemies. By doing so, they say, the narrative is always about conflict.” (New
York Times, March 19, 2009).
[i] The entire article
can be found at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/world/middleeast/19israel.html?scp=1&sq=after%20gaza,%20israel%20grapples%20with%20crisis%20of%20isolation&st=cse
Objectives:
The objectives of the campaign
are threefold: First, to support the Palestinian Civil Society Call for Academic and Cultural Boycott
of Israel (see below); second, to educate and heighten consciousness of civil society on the role of Israeli cultural
and educational institutions in fostering and promoting the occupation and oppression of Palestine; and third, to confront
complicity in Zionist use of cultural and educational events to develop support of and normalize crimes against the Palestinian
people.
Campaign Activities
In implementing the Boycott Campaign, we intend to monitor media and other sources to develop information on Israeli
cultural and educational events in the Chicago area. We intend to enlist allies in the Chicago area and develop a contact
list and email "tree" to enlist support in educational pickets at Israeli sponsored cultural and academic events.
In this context we intend to maintain consistent presence at Israeli cultural and educational events. In addition, prior to
or immediately after any such event, we will organize letter and email writing campaigns to organizations sponsoring and/or
underwriting such events.
With respect to Israeli academics, we intend to track such academics lecturing or "guest
chairing" at Chicago area colleges and universities and engage in letter writing and email campaigns of such colleges
and universities hosting such academics; organizations providing financial support for such academic activities. We will
not initiate or support boycotts of Israeli academics who have clearly demonstrated opposition to Israeli apartheid policies
and practices.
Finally, we will develop and maintain our website lists of organizations/corporations that have
promoted such cultural and academic events and promote boycotts of and divestment from such organizations/corporations.
Palestinian Civil Society Call for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
Whereas Israel's colonial oppression of the Palestinian
people, which is based on Zionist ideology, comprises the following:
- Denial of its responsibility for the Nakba -- in particular the waves of ethnic cleansing and dispossession that
created the Palestinian refugee problem -- and therefore refusal to accept the inalienable rights of the refugees and displaced
stipulated in and protected by international law;
- Military occupation and colonization of the West Bank (including
East Jerusalem) and Gaza since 1967, in violation of international law and UN resolutions;
- The entrenched system of
racial discrimination and segregation against Palestinian citizens of Israel, which resembles the defunct apartheid system
in South Africa;
Since Israeli academic institutions (mostly state controlled) and the vast majority of Israeli
intellectuals and academics have either contributed directly to maintaining, defending or otherwise justifying the above forms
of oppression, or have been complicit in them through their silence; Given that all forms of international intervention
have until now failed to force Israel to comply with international law or to end its repression of the Palestinians, which
has manifested itself in many forms, including siege, indiscriminate killing, wanton destruction and the racist colonial wall; In
view of the fact that people of conscience in the international community of scholars and intellectuals have historically
shouldered the moral responsibility to fight injustice, as exemplified in their struggle to abolish apartheid in South Africa
through diverse forms of boycott;
Recognizing that the growing international boycott movement against Israel has expressed
the need for a Palestinian frame of reference outlining guiding principles;
In the spirit of international solidarity,
moral consistency and resistance to injustice and oppression;
We, Palestinian academics and intellectuals, call
upon our colleagues in the international community to comprehensively and consistently boycott all Israeli academic and cultural
institutions as a contribution to the struggle to end Israel's occupation, colonization and system of apartheid, by applying
the following:
Refrain from participation in any form of academic and cultural cooperation, collaboration or join projects
with Israeli institutions;
Advocate a comprehensive boycott of Israeli institutions at the national and international
levels, including suspension of all forms of funding and subsidies to these institutions;
Promote divestment and disinvestment
from Israel by international academic institutions;
Work toward the condemnation of Israeli policies by pressing for
resolutions to be adopted by academic, professional and cultural associations and organizations;
Support Palestinian
academic and cultural institutions directly without requiring them to partner with Israeli counterparts as an explicit or
implicit condition for such support. |
