Protest in Support of the Boycott of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra

The announcement below pertains to the performance of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra in Ann Arbor.

In addition to the Ann Arbor performance on Nov. 16, the following performance today also merits protest:

Sat, Nov 15

Kobacker Hall

Bowling Green OH (Toch, Rósza, Copland)

Protest in Support of the Boycott of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra

Reposted from Next Year in al-Quds:

To download a leaflet (PDF) of this post, click here.

When the elephant has his foot on the tail of the mouse, and you say you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. —Archbishop Desmond Tutu as qtd. in A Passion for the Possible by William Sloane Coffin, p. 36.

PROTEST!!!

IN SUPPORT OF THE BOYCOTT OF
THE JERUSALEM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The University Musical Society is bringing the Israeli government-sponsored Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (JSO) to perform in the Hill Auditorium on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor on Sunday, November 16th. This concert and the UMS hosting of it violate the calls of Palestinian civil society for broad boycotts, including cultural and academic boycotts, against Israel until it recognizes the Palestinian people's inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with international law.

• Please call or write UMS President Ken Fischer (734-647-1174, kenfisch@umich.edu) and ask him to cancel the JSO concert and the February 14-15, 2009, recital by the Israeli government-sponsored Batsheva Dance Company of Tel Aviv.
• Please join other people of conscience and faith as we nonviolently protest outside the Hill Auditorium on Sunday, November 16, 2008, at 3:00 PM (concert starts at 4 PM).
  

Don't give the stage to Israeli Apartheid!
Boycott the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra!

(Read the full text at http://bdsmovement.net/?q=node/211)

"The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) calls on the hosts in the fourteen American cities where the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra is scheduled to perform between October 26, 2008 and November 16, 2008 to rescind their invitations to the Orchestra. We urge the hosts to support the Palestinian civil society's call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel, including the boycott of Israeli cultural institutions. …

"Since the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra is one of the primary promoters and exporters of Israeli cultural life, one of its functions is to boost Israel's image on the world stage. In this way, the truth about the Israeli occupation of Palestine becomes suppressed, and its institutionalized attacks on Palestinian cultural heritage are ignored. Any attempt by the US hosts of the tour to develop ties with this Orchestra, therefore, amounts to condoning Israeli apartheid.

"As such, we call upon the Orchestra's scheduled hosts to be mindful of the appeal issued in 2006 by Palestinian filmmakers, artists and cultural workers … to end all cooperation with Israeli art, film and cultural organizations and institutions sponsored by the Israeli government.

"We urge the hosts to condemn Israel for its racist and discriminatory practices, rather than condoning them. Finally, we call upon all American citizens of conscience to support the Palestinian BDS Call, and to boycott all cultural institutions supported by the apartheid Israeli state."

Sponsored by the Middle East Task Force of Ann Arbor.
Contact: metfinexile-owner@yahoogroups.com

For more information on the JSO and the Batsheva Dance Company,
go to: nextyearinalquds.blogspot.com

For more information on the global boycott of Israel
go to: www.pacbi.org or bdsmovement.net

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