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About BDS Italia
BDS Italia is a movement supporting boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel's occupation and system of apartheid until Israel respects international law and human rights, comprised of associations and groups throughout Italy that endorse the 2005 call from Palestinian civil society. The BDS movement supports equal rights for all and is therefore opposed to all forms of racism, fascism, sexism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, ethnic and religious discrimination.
Although most of the content of our web site is in Italian, this section contains articles, press releases and action items in English.
Contact information
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WE ASK THE RAVENNA FESTIVAL TO CANCEL THE SHOW OF THE ISRAELI DANCE COMPANY BATSHEVA SCHEDULED FOR THE 6 JULY.
For signing the call: Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo.
- Batsheva Dance Company, financed from the government of Israel, carries out a role of “cultural ambassador” of the occupation and the apartheid.
- The participation of Batsheva is in contrast with it dedication of the Festival to Nelson Mandela, defender of the Palestinian rights.
- BDS Italia, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycotting of Israel, BDS South Africa and Boycott From Within (Israel) have written to the Ravenna Festival in order to ask to withdraw the invitation to Batsheva.
- In the meeting with BDS Italia the Ravenna Festival has confirmed the intention to hold the Batsheva's show.
As BDS Italy [i] and other associations engaged in the defense of the human rights and supporting the right of the Palestinian people to freedom, justice and equality, we ask the Ravenna Festival to withdraw the invitation to the Israeli dance company of Batsheva, to cancel the show scheduled for the 6 July and to severe the relations with the Embassy of Israel in Italy and other Israeli institutions, not accepting any direct or indirect funding.
Leggi: Ravenna Festival: Don't Dance with Israeli Apartheid!
USB National Confederation Council gathered in Tivoli (Rome) on 29 May 2016, on proposal of the International Department and in support of the call of the International Solidarity Conference with Palestine held in Ramallah, promoted by WTFU and GUPW, voted for the formal endorsement by USB of the international BDS campaign, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel.
USB National Council, convinced that such a campaign could have a relevant impact at the international level by increasing the democratic pressure to stop crimes committed by the Israeli State against the Palestinian people, similarly to the success obtained by the BDS Campaign against the South African apartheid regime, invites all its offices and members to support the campaign starting with the boycott of the multinational Hewlett Packard, which provides the Israeli State with systems of control and oppression at checkpoints and in Israeli prisons.
Approved by unanimous vote
Source: USB
To: Organizers of the Ravenna Festival
Artistic Direction Team: Cristina Mazzavillani, Franco Masotti, Angelo Nicastro
copy: Lilia Lorenzi, in charge of Administration and Secretariat Lilia Lorenzi
Dear Organizers of the Ravenna Festival,
We are Israeli citizens, active against our government’s policies of occupation, colonialism and apartheid. We have learned that you wish to dedicate this year’s festival to the legacy of Nelson Mandela. We would like to congratulate you for
taking this decision, but we must admit that the participation of the Israeli dance company, Batsheva, undermines this legacy. Our explanations, as well as our call on you not to host Batsheva, follow.
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
Nelson Mandela
Dear organisers of the Ravenna Festival,
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) calls on the Ravenna Festival to cancel the performance of Batsheva Dance Company scheduled for the 6th of July. Batsheva consciously contributes to the whitewash of Israel’s regime of occupation, colonization and apartheid. Welcoming Batsheva in your festival normalizes Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and disregards the Palestinian call for a boycott of complicit Israeli cultural institutions.
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.
On April 30, 2016 Italian pop star Eros Ramazzotti is scheduled to play Tel Aviv. Take action to convince him to cancel the concert and support the Palestinian call for boycotts of Israel!
- With just one click, send a message to Ramazzotti: Don't play for Apartheid Israel!
- Join the Thunderclap to Eros Ramazzotti: Stand For Justice. Respect the BDS call!
- Share the petition via social networks and tweet the hashtag #AskErosRamazzotti. Tweets appear on his web site.
» SIGN: Send a message to @RamazzottiEros Don’t play Apartheid Israel. Respect Palestinian rights! #AskErosRamazzotti
Tweet
» ACT: Urge @RamazzottiEros to stand for justice & Palestinian rights. Cancel concert in Israel! #AskErosRamazzotti
Tweet
» SIGN: Tell @RamazzottiEros, Contribute to Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice, equality, cancel gig in Israel!
Tweet
» #AskErosRamazzotti Cancel your concert in Tel Aviv. Don't entertain Israeli Apartheid! Support Palestinian rights!
Tweet
» #AskErosRamazzotti Who routinely raids Palestinian kids' bedrooms at night? Israeli soldiers! Cancel gig in Israel!
Tweet
» #AskErosRamazzotti How many Palestinian kids detained by Israel since 2000? 8000! Don't perform in Tel Aviv!
Tweet
» #AskErosRamazzotti Who called Israeli abuse of Palestinian minors systematic & widespread? Unicef! Cancel Israel gig
Tweet
»#AskErosRamazzotti Why are human rights activists calling on @RamazzottiEros to cancel concert in Israel?
Tweet
»#AskErosRamazzotti How many Palestinians in Gaza are homeless after 2014 Israeli attacks? 100000! Cancel Israel gig!
Tweet
» #AskErosRamazzotti: Will you stand with the oppressed or entertain the oppressor? Don’t play Apartheid Israel!
Tweet
» #AskErosRamazzotti: Will you join principled artists who support Palestinian civil society call for Israel boycott?
Tweet
» #AskErosRamazzotti: Would you have performed in Apartheid S. Africa? Why perform in Apartheid Israel?
Tweet
» #AskErosRamazzotti Why let your talent be used to conceal Israel’s policies of occupation, colonialism & apartheid?
Tweet
» #AskErosRamazzotti Why not join Elvis Costello, Angela Davis, Roger Waters and cancel gig in Israel?
Tweet
» #AskErosRamazzotti Are you aware of Israeli abuse of Palestinian children? Why play Israel?
Tweet - Organize protests and flyer at Ramazzotti concerts in Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and beyond.
- Change your profile picture on Twitter and Facebook:
- Share these memes on social media:
Please let us know about initiatives supporting the campaign: Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo.
On April 30, 2016 Eros Ramazzotti is scheduled to play Tel Aviv.
» Click here to send the following message to Ramazzotti urging him to cancel his performance in Apartheid Israel and respect the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions.
» Take action: Six ways to urge Eros Ramazzotti to cancel his concert in Apartheid Israel
Dear Eros Ramazzotti,
We recently learned that you plan to perform in Tel Aviv on April 30, 2016 [1]. According to the ANSA news agency, you stated: "Shalom Tel Aviv. This will be the first time for me in Israel. I am really happy." [2]
We urge you not to perform in Israel and to refuse to let your talent be used to conceal Israel’s policies of occupation, colonialism and apartheid that have oppressed the Palestinian people for over 60 years. Forcing the Palestinians to live under the oppression of a brutal system of racial discrimination and apartheid, Israel acts in clear violation of fundamental human rights and international law [3].
We appreciated the way in which you raised the issue of refugees during your Perfect Tour, re-proposing the song "Exodus", written 22 years ago but still tragically current [4]. As you may know, according to UN data, Palestinians make up the largest refugee population in the world [5]. Driven from their homeland in 1948 following the ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the Zionist army and again in 1967 with the military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, the dramatic Palestinian diaspora continues today due to ongoing massacres, dispossession and Israel’s colonial policies. Today 67% of the Palestinian population is forced to live in refugee camps in other states or in exile, while being denied their internationally recognized right of return [6].
For these reasons, over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations launched a call in 2005 urging people of conscience to promote Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns against Israel [7]. Inspired by the excellent example of boycotts that contributed to the end of the apartheid regime in South Africa, BDS has become a global movement in constant growth. It has the support of numerous international artists and world-renowned intellectuals, such as Pulitzer Prize winner Alice Walker, Angela Davis, Carlos Santana, Danny Glover, Elvis Costello, Ken Loach, Stephen Hawking, Naomi Klein, Roger Waters, Lauryn Hill, Stevie Wonder, Vanessa Paradis, Brian Eno and many others [8].
The cultural boycott campaign calls on artists all over the world not to perform in Israel or participate in events aimed at normalizing the dramatic situation by equating the occupier and the occupied, the oppressor and the oppressed [9]. In fact, as Archbishop Desmond Tutu has repeatedly stressed, performing in Israel today would be just as wrong as it was to perform in South Africa during the apartheid regime [10].
Some say that music is the language of peace and argue that art and culture are apolitical and a boycott would be a violation of freedom of expression. However, it is Israel that makes no distinction between culture and politics, while using culture and the arts to whitewash its image and divert attention from its policies of occupation and apartheid. In fact in 2005, Nissim Ben-Sheetrit, formerly with Israel's Foreign Ministry, admitted: "We are seeing culture as a hasbara [propaganda] tool of the first rank, and I do not differentiate between hasbara and culture" [11].
In Tutu’s famous words, remaining neutral in situations of injustice means choosing the side of the oppressor [12]. We therefore urge you to cancel your concert in Tel Aviv and refrain from planning any future concerts in Israel until it respects international law and the human rights of the Palestinian people.
By supporting the Palestinian call for boycott, as an internationally renowned artist, you will play a key role in influencing change, raising awareness and making a nonviolent contribution to the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and equality.
"Perfect" would be a world with rights guaranteed for all.
We look forward to hearing from your and remain available for further clarification.
BDS Italy
BDS Italy is a movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel’s regime of occupation, colonialism and apartheid, made up of associations and groups throughout Italy that have endorsed the 2005 call by Palestinian civil society and promote BDS campaigns and initiatives at the national and local level.
Notes:
[3] http://lawcenter.birzeit.edu/iol/en/project/outputfile/6/986afcc6c9.pdf
[4] http://www.avvenire.it/Spettacoli/Pagine/ramazzotti-concerto-milano-recensione.aspx
[5] http://www.irinnews.org/report/89571/middle-east-palestinian-refugee-numbers-whereabouts
[6] http://imeu.org/article/the-right-of-return-palestinian-refugees
[7] http://www.bdsmovement.net/call
[8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfMM0AZ9eWA
[9] http://pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1047
[10] http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2010/10/26/tutu-urges-cape-town-opera-to-call-off-israel-tour
[11] http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1760
[12] http://www.tutu.org.za/archbishop-tutu-adds-voice-to-israeli-apartheid-week-9-march-2014
During his visit to Israel, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi gave a speech to the Knesset in which he stressed the relationship and friendship between Italy and Israel, affirming that "Italy will always be in the front line against all forms of boycott, which are futile and stupid ". Renzi’s statement demonstrates his utter lack of knowledge of the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) launched in July 2005 by a broad coalition of Palestinian civil society as a necessary and moral response to the failure of international institutions to halt Israel’s continuing violations of international law. [1]
For decades and with complete impunity, Israel has carried out policies of occupation and colonization, appropriating Palestinian land and resources, building settlements and the Apartheid Wall, approved laws that discriminate against Palestinian citizens of Israel and forced half of the Palestinian population to live as refugees or in exile. [2] A year after the operation "Protective Edge", Israel’s third military operation bombarding the Gaza Strip in five years, which caused the death of over 2,200 people, the vast majority civilians and a quarter of them children, Israel continues to prevent the reconstruction of the 18,000 homes damaged with the illegal blockade it has imposed for eight years. [3]
BDS serves to break the status quo in which Israel continues to violate rights with impunity, thanks to the inaction of States and institutions, and businesses, including Italian firms, continue to profit from this illegal situation.[4]
►Join the Thunderclap: Cartoons on the Bay, UNICEF and RaiTV, Don't reward Israel!
To the attention of:
Luigi Gubitosi, General Director, RAI
Costanza Esclapon, President, RAICom
Roberto Genovesi, Director, Cartoons on the Bay
Giacomo Guerrera, President, Unicef Italia
Anthony Lake, Executive Director, Unicef
Bruno Bozzetto, Honarary President, Asifa-Italia
Maurizio Forestieri, President, Asifa-Italia
Ed Desroches, President, Asifa
We recently learned that this year Israel will be guest country featured at 'Cartoons on the Bay', the television animation festival organized by Italian state television RAI April 16-18 in Venice, Italy. Israel is also scheduled to receive the festival’s Pulcinella Award 2015.[1] At the presentation, Israeli ambassador Naor Gilon commended the choice, while Constanza Esclapon, president of RaiCom, praised Israel for being a beacon of innovation in the field of animation.[2]
The celebration of Israel at a festival centered on animation for children seems, at the very least, highly inappropriate, given the repressive and discriminatory policies it imposes on Palestinian children. According to data from the Israeli organization B'Tselem and the UN, since 2000, 1,941 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli military forces.[3]
Due to Israel’s military occupation, Palestinian children are forced to live in intolerable conditions, face enormous difficulties in access to education and are subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment in Israeli prisons.
UNICEF, among the festival’s sponsors, has repeatedly documented the “systematic and widespread” abuse of Palestinian children in the Israeli military detention system.[4]
Leggi: Open Letter to RaiTV, Unicef and Asifa: Don't reward Israel at 'Cartoons on the Bay'
Update to press release sent this morning: An email from the office of MEP Fulvio Martusciello confirms that the meeting with Israeli General Yoav Mordechai at the European Parliament, initially scheduled for this morning at 10:30 am, was canceled.
From: MARTUSCIELLO Fulvio <Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo.>
Date: 2015-02-03 9:56 GMT+01:00
Subject: RE: Cancel meeting with Maj. Gen Yoav Mordechai
To: BDS Italia <Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo.>
Dear Sirs,
On behalf of Mr Martusciello I communicate you that the meeting foreseen for today has been cancelled.
Kind regards
Office of Mr Fulvio Martusciello
While BDS Italy welcomes the news, we wonder how it was possible to invite a person likely involved in war crimes to the European Parliament. It is clear that the outrage, protests – also by other MEPs - and problems that would have ensued were instrumental in leading to the cancellation of the event less than an hour before it was to begin.
Leggi: Meeting with Israeli war criminal at European Parliament canceled