- Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
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The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) was launched in Ramallah in April 2004 by a group of Palestinian academics and intellectuals,[1]including Lisa Taraki and Omar Barghouti.[2]
PACBI is a member of The Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Campaign National Committee (BNC).[3]
Contents
History
The Campaign built on a call for an economic, cultural and academic boycott of Israel issued in August 2002 and a statement made by Palestinian academics and intellectuals in the occupied territories and in the Diaspora calling for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions in October 2003.
In 2005 PACBI worked closely with the British Committee for Universities of Palestine (BRICUP) which lobbied the Association of University Teachers (AUT) to adopt an academic boycott of Israeli universities.[4]
PACBI argues that "Israel's colonial oppression of the Palestinian people comprises:"
- Denial of its responsibility for the Nakba -- in particular the waves of ethnic cleansing and dispossession that created the Palestinian refugee problem—and therefore refusal to accept the inalienable rights of the refugees and displaced stipulated in and protected by international law;[5]
- Military occupation and colonization of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza since 1967, in violation of international law and UN resolutions;[5]
- The entrenched system of racial discrimination and segregation against the Palestinian citizens of Israel, which resembles the defunct apartheid system in South Africa to form an Israeli apartheid;[5]
PACBI's supporters believe that a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions will contribute towards the dismantling of "Israel’s occupation, colonization and system of apartheid".[5]
Activities
In July 2009, (PACBI) led the call for the boycott of a proposed concert in Ramallah by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, which was later cancelled. PACBI opposed the concert because it would be held two days after Cohen performed in Israel. The PACBI claimed that Cohen "is intent on whitewashing Israel's colonial apartheid regime by performing in Israel." In support of the boycott, PACBI argured that artistic events in Israel are "conscious acts of complicity in Israel's violation of international law and human rights."[6]
In a letter sent to Bon Jovi in January 2011[7], PACBI claims that Bono and Snoop Dogg had cancelled concerts here due to the boycott.[8]
In February 2011, Mazin Qumsiyeh, writing for Al-Jazeerah mentions the PACBI-led boycott of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra[9] since it is "one of the flagship institutions of the Israeli state" and "as long as it continues to partner with the state in planning, implementing, and whitewashing war crimes and international law violations, the Israeli cultural establishment cannot expect to be exempted from the growing boycott movement."[10]
See also
- Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
- Economic and political boycotts of Israel
- Academic boycotts of Israel
Notes
- ^ [1], PACBI website, accessed 20 February 2011.
- ^ Academic boycotter to study in Tel Aviv
- ^ BNC statements
- ^ Al Majdal, Issue No. 28 (Winter 2005).
- ^ a b c d Call of Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, PACBI website, accessed 27 May 2007.
- ^ Leonard Cohen's Ramallah gig called off by Rachelle Kliger, Jerusalem Post, July 13, 2009.
- ^ Open Letter to Jon Bon Jovi: This one should go out to the Palestinians!
- ^ Snoop Dogg cancels Israeli gig
- ^ From Sykes-Picot to Mubarak-Suleiman
- ^ Boycott the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra on its US Tour!
External links
Categories:- Boycotts of Israel
- Non-governmental organizations involved in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
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