The British Library is hosting an event organised by the Israel Philharmonic Foundation UK, bringing members of the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) to London. The IPO is not an apolitical cultural institution, and this event is part of a propaganda campaign that uses music to distract from the horrific realities of Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians and brutal apartheid regime across their historic homeland. Join us outside to protest the event in response to the Palestinian call for boycotts of Israeli cultural institutions for their deep and persistent complicity in Israel’s denial of Palestinian rights.
In Gaza, Israel’s bombing and blockade continues, and millions remain displaced, living in tents flooding now as the winter rains arrive. The entire Palestinian population in the West Bank lives under the constant threat and reality of military violence, arrest, displacement and land grabs. Inside Israel, Palestinians are facing extreme incitement by Israeli politicians in the wake of their record turnout in the recent elections and have been considered a demographic threat by the state for decades, while Palestinian refugees outside historic Palestine remain unable to exercise their internationally guaranteed right of return.
It is within this context that an ensemble from the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra is being hosted in Britain. The event is described as a performance by an Arab-Jewish ensemble of the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, an evening of ‘extraordinary music and shared humanity’. Our issue is not with any individual members of the ensemble, but rather the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra itself, which boasts a close relationship with the Israeli military and has not taken any position in support of Palestinian rights, even during this period of genocide. Its active cooperation with the Israeli military committing war crimes and crimes against humanity is unconscionable and it beggars belief that the IPO would have the audacity to refer to ‘shared humanity’ in the face of this reality.
For more than two decades, Palestinians have called on people of conscience around the world to show solidarity and support for their struggle by boycotting and protesting events that normalise apartheid and oppression. They have been clear that these boycotts are focused on institutions who have the power to refuse to be complicit, but stay silent instead, or, as in the case of the IPO, actively collaborate with the systems of oppression that keep Palestinians from achieving freedom and justice. This call for boycott is much more significant as Israel’s genocide against Palestinians continues. Institutions like the British Library know that reality—making it even more shameful for this event to be going forward.
PROTEST FOR PALESTINE – No Genocide Orchestra
Date and time: 10 November, 6PM
Location: British Library, London