British artists announce cultural boycott of Israel

Marcy Oster

(JTA) — More than 100 British artists announced that they have launched a cultural boycott of Israel.

“We will not engage in business-as-usual cultural relations with Israel. We will accept neither professional invitations to Israel, nor funding, from any institutions linked to its government,” the artists said in a letter to The Guardian newspaper on Saturday.

“Now we are saying, in Tel Aviv, Netanya, Ashkelon or Ariel, we won’t play music, accept awards, attend exhibitions, festivals or conferences, run master classes or workshops, until Israel respects international law and ends its colonial oppression of the Palestinians,” the artists wrote.

The 100 artists join some 600 other British artists who have already pledged to boycott Israel.

They are all part of an initiative called Artists for Palestine UK. They include musicians, writers, lighting designers, producers, architects, and filmmakers.