On November 8 and 9 at 8:30pm at Rome’s Santa Cecilia Auditorium in Via della Conciliazione, the Israeli dance company Batsheva will perform as part of a tour sponsored by the Israeli Embassy in Italy.
Batsheva performances, from New York, to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, London and Edinburgh, have been met with protest by supporters of the global Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign because
Batsheva is part of BRAND ISRAEL,
the campaign launched and financed by the Israeli government, following three years of consultations with US marketing experts, to create a positive image of Israel as a highly civilized country that excels in the arts, science and sports. "Showing Israel’s prettier face" to hide the shame of a brutal occupation based on Apartheid and torture: This is Brand Israel’s intent.
Batsheva, as with all Brand Israel activities, aims to divert the attention of world public opinion from serious violations of human rights and international law committed daily by the Israeli government.
Despite years of open letters calling on Batsheva to cut ties with Brand Israel, refuse funding from the Israeli government and take a stand against Israeli violations of Palestinian rights, Batsheva continues to act as cultural ambassador for Israeli Apartheid.
Art, science and sports, when serving oppression, ethnic cleansing and Apartheid, becoming an accomplice of a decades-long military occupation in defiance of countless UN resolutions, must be contested and boycotted.
Don’t be fooled by the graceful moves of the dancers. There is no grace or beauty in the Israeli occupation: it is absolutely brutal!
The BDS campaign launched by Palestinian civil society is an effective and nonviolent means of struggle in support of the resistance of the Palestinian people defending the right to live in freedom on their own land.
Boycotting Batsheva is a responsibility for all human rights defenders, alongside those who struggle against oppression. Rome is mobilizing.
Rome BDS Group
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