Facebook share Share on TwitterRSS feed

Innovative Minds © 2014. All Rights Reserved. www.inminds.co.uk

[Boycott - Cultural]

Alert: 22 Nov 2015 - Protest Israel's Cultural Ambassadors The Jerusalem Quartet


inminds
16 November 2015




DATE: Sunday 22nd Nov 2015, 2-4pm
LOCATION: St.John Smith Square, London SW1P 3HA
( Closest tube: Westminister, St.James and Victoria )
FACEBOOK EVENT: https://www.facebook.com/events/524733534361727/


16th November 2015, www.inminds.com

Israel's cultural ambassadors the Jerusalem Quartet are back in town, please join us in a peaceful protest outside their London performance at St.John Smith Square on Sunday 22nd Nov 2015 at 2pm. We will be leafleting those attending the performance, hopefully engaging them in polite conversation introducing them to the Palestinian call for a cultural boycott of Israel.

BACKGROUND

Arts and culture have become an important weapon in the Israeli government’s public relations campaign. The Israeli Foreign Ministry's Deputy Director General Nissim Ben-Sheetrit announced in 2005 that "We see culture as a propaganda tool of the first rank, and I do not differentiate between propaganda and culture", and in 2006, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched an multi-million dollar initiative called “Brand Israel,” whereby culture is used to whitewash an apartheid state founded on the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and occupation of their land. Arye Mekel of Israel’s Foreign Ministry explained “We will send well-known novelists and writers overseas, theater companies, exhibits… This way you show Israel’s prettier face, so we are not thought of purely in the context of war.”

In 2008, Israeli poet Yitzhak Laor explained the contacts Israeli artists going abroad with foreign Ministry funding have to sign includes a 'Brand Israel' clause that [the artist] "is aware that the purpose of ordering services from him is to promote the policy interest of the State of Israel via culture and art, including contributing to creating a positive image for Israel" furthermore it stipulates that this relationship must remain secret.

The Jerusalem Quartet are a leading part of this 'Brand Israel' project and as such are cultural ambassadors for an apartheid state. They have consistently taken funding from Israeli Embassies and represented the Israeli state at performances. In 2007 they performed at the Library of Congress for the Israel Ambassador who introduced them with a speech of how Israel is under attack from all sides and yet Israel still make beautiful music. In January 2015 they played for the Israeli embassy in Croatia at an Israeli state sponsored event. JQ Cellist Kyril Zlotnikov told The Australian (14th March 2006), ”People say we are the best ambassadors from Israel, and we are happy about that.” In Sept 2008 when the JQ was protested at the Edinburgh festival Ron Prosor, Israel's ambassador to the UK, confirmed JQ's role in marketing 'Brand Israel', by saying: "We must not give in to the attempts to sabotage the marketing of Israeli art and culture in Britain.."

The Jerusalem Quartet also has very close links to the Israel military. “The four members of the Quartet joined the Israeli Defense Forces in March 1997 and are serving as Distinguished Musicians.” An article by the World Zionist Press Service in 1998, entitled “Israeli musicians also have military strings attached”, described how since completing their military service: “The Quartet now serves as Distinguished Musicians, performing for troops three times a week. … For the three immigrants, carrying a rifle in one hand and a violin in the other is the ultimate Zionist statement. ‘It’s something our parents could hardly have imagined ten years ago,’ says Zlotnikov”.

Palestinian artists and musicians are routinely prevented from studying, rehearsing and performing by an illegal occupation. In 2008, the Gaza Music School, which was located in the Palestinian Red Crescent Society building in Gaza City, was targeted by Israel and destroyed. In June 2012 the Ramallah Orchestra was to perform a free concert at Saint Anne Church in Palestinian East Jerusalem, organized with the assistance of the French Consulate, but the event had to be cancelled after Israel refused to allow the musicians to cross the military checkpoint.

The Jerusalem Quartet’s willingness to be ‘poster boys’ for the Israeli state has led to its being identified as one of the targets of a Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign. This campaign, modelled on the boycott movement which helped bring an end to apartheid in South Africa, regards cultural institutions such as the Quartet as complicit in Israel’s violations of human rights and international law. We ask you to respect the Palestinian call and boycott the Jerusalem Quartet until apartheid Israel ends and Palestine is free.



Photo from protest last time Jerusalem Quartet performed in the UK (April 2015)



Photo from protest last time Jerusalem Quartet performed in the UK (April 2015)


LIVE UPDATES DURING PROTEST

We will, inshAllah, be tweeting live from the protest with live photos being uploaded to our twitter and facebook page. So if you can't join us on the day, please help us by sharing the photos as they get uploaded.

https://www.facebook.com/inmindscom

https://twitter.com/InmindsCom

If you support this activity please share this alert widely, thank you.

JazakAllah,

Abbas Ali
www.inminds.com
fb.com/inmindscom
twitter.com/InmindsCom
youtube.com/user/inminds


RESOURCES - LEAFLET







RESOURCES - PLACARDS


























RESOURCES - NEW BANNER: Boycott The Culture Of Apartheid




6ft x 4.5ft banner: Boycott The Culture Of Apartheid

Source: www.inminds.com


Related Articles


Also Of Interest

Page URL: http://inminds.co.uk/article.php?id=10692
Support Us
If you agree with our work then please support us.

Give one time donation:

Setup monthly donation:
INMINDS Facebook Live Feed
Latest Video's
Latest News..
[all-by date]
[all-by category]
[all-by modify date]
INMINDS Twitter Feed
Boycott Israel Campaign
Featured Video's
You need Flash player 8+ and JavaScript enabled to view this video.
Why boycott Israel on Campus[1:50:05]
12 London universities discuss need for BDS on campuses. Speakers include Rafeef Ziadeh, Ilan Pappe, Karma Nabulsi & Mike Cushman
Love Letters to Gaza[31:08]
A unique theatrical event using personal messages of love, support and hope from people of all ages and all walks of life to the people of Gaza.
John Pilger[7:55]
journalist and documentary maker
Antiwar Mass Assembly 8 Oct 2011
Julian Assange[7:07]
founder of WikiLeaks
Antiwar Mass Assembly 8 Oct 2011
Lauren Booth, Sami Ramadani & Yvonne Ridley[6:28]
Reading the names of the dead
Antiwar Mass Assembly 8 Oct 2011
George Galloway[6:39]
Antiwar Mass Assembly 8 Oct 2011
Jemima Khan[8:42]
Antiwar Mass Assembly 8 Oct 2011
Why Boycott Marks & Spencer 2011?[23:29]
Demo outside M&S Oxford Street(24 Sept 2011)
Sean Clinton[4:59]
Israeli Blood Diamonds Campaign
Al Quds Day rally, Trafalgar Square (31 Aug 2011)
Lauren Booth[5:24]
Al Quds Day rally, Trafalgar Square (31 Aug 2011)
Lauren Booth - Prayer for Gaza[2:46]
Al Quds Day rally, Trafalgar Square (31 Aug 2011)
Benny Morris - Historian or Racist?[34:07]
Activists oppose visit of racist Israeli historian Benny Morris who justifies ethnic cleansing and genocide.
Is Israel applying apartheid?[2:12:56]
Speakers: Yael Kahn, Jody McIntyre and Ghada Karmi (5 May 2011)
Karen Mitchell[48:27]
Partner at Thompsons Solicitors
Life changing visit to Palestine in 2008 (21 Feb 2011)
Ramzy Baroud[1:59:32]
Editor-in-chief of the Palestine Chronicle
"My Father Was A Freedom Fighter - Gaza's Untold Story" (25 Mar 2011)
Women United in the Intifada[2:31:36]
Speakers: Lizzie Cocker, Ewa Jasiewcz, Alaa Kassim, Yvonney Ridley, Isis Amlak, Sukant Chandan, Ramzy Baroud (14 Mar 2011)
George Galloway[1:01:48]
Solidarity with the Middle-East Revolution, support the people - oppose US/UK intervention (SOAS, 11 Mar 2011)
Omar Barghouti[55:08]
BDS Movement co-founder
"Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions" book launch (7 Mar 2011)
Shir Hever[1:49:09]
Alternative Information Centre
The Political Economy of Israel's Occupation, Kings College London (17 Feb 2011)
Why academic boycott of Israel[1:29:37]
Speakers: Mohammed Abuabdou(PSCABI), Mike Cushman(BRICUP), Jodey McIntyre(activist) (8 Feb 2011)
Dashed Hopes - Gaza Blockade[1:23:08]
Mohammed-Ali Abu Najela (Oxfam), Andrea Becker (MAP), Ewa Jasiewicz (Free Gaza Movement) (1 Feb 2011)
Jordan Valley: Apartheid[1:17:12]
Sarah Cobham(Brighton Jordan Valley Solidarity), Chris Osmond (Corporate Watch) (House of Commons, 1 Feb 2011)
Dump Veolia Demo[7:00]
Protesting at settlement supporter Veolia's sponsership of exhibit at the Natural History Museum (23 Oct 2010)
Boycott Israeli Dates [1/2][9:11]
Are you financing Israels brutal occupation this Ramadan?
Boycott Israeli Dates [2/2][9:05]
Are you financing Israels brutal occupation this Ramadan?
Lee Jasper [1/2][10:13]
[4 of 8] Genocide Memorial Day 2010 Session One, 17-1-2010
Lee Jasper [2/2][9:51]
[5 of 8] Genocide Memorial Day 2010 Session One, 17-1-2010
One Oppressor One Bullet[8:11]
Imam Achmad Cassiem, veteran of the armed struggle against apartheid in South Africa, speaks at the StW rally (London, 19 Feb 2005)
Salwa Alenat [1/2][9:56]
KavLaOved (Workers Rights hotline)
[1 of 8] Israel's Occupation - Abuse of Palestinian Workers (LSE 19 Nov 2009)
Salwa Alenat [2/2][8:57]
KavLaOved (Workers Rights hotline)
[2 of 8] Israel's Occupation - Abuse of Palestinian Workers (LSE 19 Nov 2009)
For Anwar [1of2][10:01]
Carmel Agrexco Valentines Action 7 Feb 2009
For Anwar [2of2][9:56]
Carmel Agrexco Valentines Action 7 Feb 2009
big
[all videos (over 200)..]
Featured MP3 Podcast

"For most journalists, whether they realize it or not, are groomed to be tribunes of an ideology that regards itself as non-ideological, that presents itself as the natural center, the very fulcrum of modern life. This may very well be the most powerful and dangerous ideology we have ever known because it is open-ended. This is liberalism."
Campaigning Journalist and Film-maker
Socialism 2007 Conference, Chicago [43min / 21Mb]
[need flash]

[all podcasts..]
Newsletter
To subscribe
enter your email:

COPY VERIFICATION CODEcopy this code —>
Feedback
If you wish to comment on this page:

(all fields optional)



COPY VERIFICATION CODEcopy this code —>
The opinions expressed on this site, unless otherwise stated, are those of the authors.
All logos & trademarks are the property of their respective owners and their use is covered under 'fair use' policy.
Copyright © 1998-2012 Innovative Minds www.inminds.com All Rights Reserved.
The opinions expressed on this site, unless otherwise stated, are those of the authors.
All logos & trademarks are the property of their respective owners and their use is covered under 'fair use' policy.
Copyright © 1998-2012 Innovative Minds www.inminds.com All Rights Reserved.