Dear Organizers of the Ravenna Festival,
“The belligerent attitude which is adopted by the Israeli government is to us unacceptable.”
Nelson Mandela, 1990
We are reaching out to you and writing from South Africa regarding the upcoming participation of the Israeli dance company, Batsheva, in this year’s Ravenna Festival.
As a local South African human rights and Palestine solidarity organisation we identify unapologetically with the oppressed and their progressive allies. We are aware that our Israeli counterparts have already sent you correspondence detailing the impact of Israel’s oppressive and unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory as well as its gross violation of the human rights of Palestinians. We do not intend to repeat the same detail in this letter except to add that many South Africans, some of our most senior including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Winnie Mandela, Ahmed Kathrada, Professor John Dugard etc. have claimed that Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people is far worse than conditions were under Apartheid in South Africa. Nonetheless, we support their call for you to withdraw the invitation to the Batsheva Dance Company.
The purpose of this letter is to write to you as South Africans who have lived and continue to live with the legacy of colonialism and apartheid hanging over us. Fortunately for us, due in part to the immense support of international entities and individuals supporting the boycott of apartheid South Africa, a new democratic and egalitarian dispensation was ushered in 22 years ago. However, the brutal legacy of apartheid continues to plague our society. We trust that you are empathetic of the plight of those who continue to suffer under conditions of occupation, oppression and apartheid, such as the Palestinians.
If your organisation does not withdraw the invitation to Batsheva and continues to collaborate with Batsheva, which is funded by the Israeli state and/or the Israeli Embassy in Italy, despite Israel’s policy of occupation and repression against the Palestinians you will be deliberately and knowingly breaking the cultural boycott against Israel and effectively signal the condonation of Israel’s unlawful and oppressive policies towards the Palestinians.
As South Africans and victims of apartheid in South Africa who stand in solidarity with our oppressed Palestinian brothers and sisters, we request that you respect and uphold the boycott against apartheid Israel by withdrawing the invitation to Batsheva. When artists and sportspeople began refusing to perform in apartheid South Africa, the world’s eyes turned to the injustices that were happening here. This then created a wave of pressure, which ultimately contributed to a free, democratic and non-racial South Africa. The same is not only possible for Palestine-Israel, but also inevitable. The question is: On which side of history does one want to be? Performing in apartheid South Africa – in violation of what us oppressed black South Africans and our white allies asked for – during the 1980s was to be on the wrong side of history. Today, performing in Israel – in violation of what the oppressed Palestinians and their progressive Israeli allies have asked for – is choosing to be on the wrong side of history.
We are informed that this year’s festival is dedicated to the legacy of our beloved Nelson Mandela, who sacrificed his freedom and struggled for a free and democratic South Africa for all people. It would be a great dishonor to our respected leader and former president if you collaborate with entities that are funded or officially associated with the Israeli state as Mandela was not only supportive of the Palestinian struggle for justice and democratic rights but also connected our own struggle in South Africa with that of the Palestinians when he said in 1997: “The United Nations took a strong stand against apartheid; and over the years, an international consensus was built, which helped to bring an end to this iniquitous system...but we know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”
We hope that you will choose to be on the right side of history and not entertain apartheid.
Ms Kwara Kekana
National Spokesperson
BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT AND SANCTIONS AGAINST ISRAEL IN SOUTH AFRICA (BDS SOUTH AFRICA)
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