The following is an open letter to Latin musician Mercedes Sosa sent on 21 July 2008 by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel: How can Mercedes Sosa, the quintessentially progressive diva of freedom songs in Latin America, sing in Israel, a colonial and apartheid state whose war crimes have reached new lows, systematically and deliberately destroying Palestinian society and engendering a process of slow ethnic cleansing of the indigenous people of Palestine? Read more about Celebrated Latin diva urged to cancel Tel Aviv concert
The following is an open letter sent to US rap musician Snoop Dogg on 29 June 2008 by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel: We strongly urge you to cancel your plans to perform in Israel until the time comes when Israel ends its illegal occupation of Palestinian and Arab territories and respects the relevant precepts of international law concerning Palestinian rights to freedom, self-determination and equality. Read more about US rapper urged to cancel Israel concert
The news that the US State Department has decided to cancel all previously approved Fulbright grants to Palestinian students in Gaza is deeply shocking. In yet another clear demonstration of US complicity with the Israeli occupation regime, the State Department has decided to withdraw the grants for graduate studies in the US because Israel has not given permission for the students to leave Gaza. Read more about Academics urged to condemn US canceling of Gaza students' Fulbright scholarships
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel salutes the British University and College Union for its principled support for the cause of justice and peace in Palestine and for adopting, at its annual congress on 28 May 2008, significant steps in the direction of applying effective pressure on Israel and holding it accountable for its colonial and apartheid policies which violate international law and fundamental human rights. Read more about UK union deals a blow to business-as-usual with Israeli academy
Upon news of her upcoming performance in Israel, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel tells playwright Sarah Jones: If you perform in Jerusalem you will be taking part in a feast for war crimes, ethnic cleansing, dispossession, and continued oppression of a people. We urge you not to turn your back to the needs and rights of the Palestinian people and not to collude in Israel’s persistent human rights abuse, which is, after all, the worst enemy of art and culture. Read more about US playwright Sarah Jones urged to cancel Israel performance
Today the Palestinian boycott campaign organization PACBI wrote to celebrated singer Morrissey: “On 3 December 2007, you said: ‘I abhor racism and oppression or cruelty of any kind and will not let this pass without being absolutely clear and emphatic with regard to what my position is. Racism is beyond common sense and I believe it has no place in our society.’ It is ‘absolutely clear’ that your performance in Israel would betray a regrettable double standard, if not a categorical negation of those noble ideals.” Read more about Morrissey: celebrating apartheid in Tel Aviv?
You uttered one word [“Tibet”] in a concert in Shanghai that sent ripples across many disapproving seas. This time, say it louder, and support another just cause: that of the Palestinian people. Do not sing in Israel, so that your silence will prove to be more deafening. The concert you plan to give in July in Israel will coincide with the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of this state over the ruins of another country, Palestine. Read more about Bjork, cancel your Tel Aviv concert!
The following is an open letter from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel to musician and activist Bono, issued on 22 February: PACBI has learned that you have been invited by Israeli President Shimon Peres to take part in a conference designed to mark Israel’s contributions to medicine, science and conservation. We urge you, as a prominent activist on issues of global inequality and a campaigner for basic human rights, to say no to Israel, especially since the invitation coincides with celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state. Read more about Activists to Bono: Don't honor Israel!
The following is an open letter sent to the Beatles on 2 February 2008: Forty-three years ago, the government of Israel banned your performance in the country for fear you would corrupt the minds of Israeli youth. Now, Israel is extending an apology and an invitation to you, hoping you will forget the past and agree to help celebrate its 60th “birthday.” The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel urges you to say no to Israel, particularly since the creation of this state 60 years ago dispossessed and uprooted hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes and lands, condemning them to a life of exile and destitution. Read more about Beatles: don't let it be!
The following is an open letter to Professor Ali Dogramaci, Rector of Bilkent University, Ankara: The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel views with grave concern your university’s intention to honor Shimon Peres with an Honorary Doctorate. We feel certain that you do so without the knowledge of his personal history and his history as president of a state that practices the most pernicious form of colonialism and apartheid. Read more about Don't honor Peres' war criminal history
