British Committee for the Universities of Palestine

The following is an open letter from the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine to Canadian musician Leonard Cohen: Your songs have been part of the soundtrack of our lives — like breathing, some of them. But we can’t make sense of why you’ve decided to perform in Israel in September this year.

The following is an open letter to jazz musician Branford Marsalis, sent by the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine: “We are writing to ask you to reconsider your decision to play in Israel. We are wondering how a musician with your sensitivity will be able to stand on a stage and play reflective, subtle jazz while less than an hour’s drive away, a million-and-a-half people in Gaza — two-thirds of them refugees — endure yet another night of hunger, darkness and fear because of the iron-clad siege the Israeli government has enforced against them for years.”