Muhammad Idrees Ahmad

John Berger has taken a principled and courageous stance on Israel’s continued brutalization of the Palestinians and his call for a cultural boycott has now been joined by such superlative individuals as Arundhati Roy, Ken Loach, Brian Eno, Eduardo Galeano, Ahdaf Soueif and many others. The Blood hounds and smear mongers of the lobby have already kicked into action. At this hour it is imperative for all of us struggling for the rights of the Palestinians to give these courageous inviduals maximum support in the face of Zionist slander.

Here is their statement:

There is a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon, albeit daily violated by Israeli overflights. Meanwhile the day-to-day brutality of the Israeli army in Gaza and the West Bank continues. Ten Palestinians are killed for every Israeli death; more than 200, many of them children, have been killed since the summer. UN resolutions are flouted, human rights violated as Palestinian land is stolen, houses demolished and crops destroyed. For archbishop Desmond Tutu, as for the Jewish former ANC military commander now South African minister of security, Ronnie Kasrils, the situation of the Palestinians is worse than that of black South Africans under apartheid.

Meanwhile, western governments refer to Israel’s legitimate right of self-defence, and continue to supply weaponry. The challenge of apartheid was fought better. The non-violent international response to apartheid was a campaign of boycott, divestment and UN-imposed sanctions which enabled the regime to change without bloodshed.

Today, Palestinians teachers, writers, film-makers and non-governmental organisations have called for a comparable academic and cultural boycott of Israel as offering another path to a just peace. This call has been endorsed internationally by university teachers in many European countries, by film-makers and architects, and by some brave Israeli dissidents. It is now time for others to join the campaign – as Primo Levi asked: “If not now, when?” We call on creative writers and artists to support our Palestinian and Israeli colleagues by endorsing the boycott call. Read the Palestinian call pacbi.org.
John Berger
Brian Eno
Sophie Fiennes
Eduardo Galeano
Reem Kelani
Leon Rosselson
Steven Rose
Arundhati Roy
Ahdaf Soueif
Elia Suleiman
and 85 others

John Berger stresses the need for speaking out in this comment piece.  Norman Finkelstein has already made a strong case for an economic boycott and Gabriel Ash has made a compelling case for the justice and efficacy of a boycott campaign. From South Africa, Virginia Tilley urges us to Boycott Now! From Palestine Omar Barghouti reminds us why the boycott is necessary. From Israel itself, we have the indefatigable Ilan Pappe and Tanya Reinhart supporting this call.

Please support the boycott and send letters of support to newspapers, journals and websites.