Dear Al Foster, Wallace Roney; Branford Marsalis; Chris Dave, Pino Palladino, Kebbi William, Isaiah Sharkey; Gerald Clayton, Joe Sanders, Pete Van Nostrand, Jeff Ballard, Miguel Zenon, Kevin Hays, Nicholas Payton, Thelonious Monk Institute featuring Jane Monheit; João Bosco; Matt Schofield, Motion Trio,
We are citizens of Israel who oppose our government’s continuing displacement of the Palestinian people via military occupation and apartheid policies [1]. We write to you in order to make sure that you are aware of all the moral implications of performing in Israel at this time. We ask that you postpone your concerts, to the time when Israel ends its military occupation and apartheid policies.
It is impossible not to address the venue of the festival and its history. Between the year of 1947-1948 Israeli militias committed ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Palestinian population of Palestine. Over 500 villages were destroyed, massacres of thousands resulting in the fleeing of half the population in fear for their lives [2]. We refuse to forget that Eilat stands on what was once a Palestinian village called Umm Rashrash [3], and the whole area was renamed after the military operation of ethnic cleansing, barefacedly named “Uvda”, which is Hebrew for “Fact”, as in “creating facts on the ground”. Israel’s Tourism Ministry, one of the initiators of the Red Sea Jazz Festival, you're about to take part in, has no qualms about using this name [4].
The Eilat Red Sea Jazz Festival is in no way separate from the government and its policies. It is “initiated by Eilat city hall aid by Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Tourism, Eilat Sea Port, Eilat Hotel Association and various business sponsors” [5]. The reality of Israel at present is that all government ministries are in one way or another involved in the oppression of the indigenous Palestinian population, fundamentally utilizing civilian aspects of the government and civil society to uphold, sustain and perpetuate the military occupation. Particularly relevant for you is the fact that Israel's government openly uses cultural events in order to divert attention from its war crimes [6]:
"We see culture as a Hasbara [public relations] tool of the first rank, and I do not differentiate between Hasbara and culture" ~ Nissim Ben-Sheetrit, former deputy director general of the Israel Foreign Ministry
The Israeli Ministry of Tourism advertises and facilitates tourism in occupied Palestinian territories [7], and facilitates tours for artists such as you, as part of generating photo-ops : "video and stills footage of the singer and her entourage, both during the concerts and visits to tourist sites in Israel, to be used in international marketing campaigns." [8]
The Ministry of Culture supports the settlement construction in the West Bank, and actively silences protestation of this war crime [9].
Governmental forces are joined by corporate forces if we examine Eilat Sea Port (Eilat Port Company Ltd.), One of its owners being and Israel’s government via the Israel Ports Development & Assets Company Ltd. [10] The same Israeli government has besieged Gaza port, closing down not only any means of trade, but also one of the main venues of livelihood.
Due to all this, in past years, other jazz musicians have also cancelled their participation in the Red Sea Jazz Festival, including Eddie Palmieri, Jason Morana, Portico Quartet, Tuba Skinny, Andreas Öber and Stanley Jordan. Since Jazz festivals have become one of Israel's most commonly used forms of public relations, many jazz, blues and soul musicians have cancelled their performances at similar state-initiated Jazz festivals,. Others have expressed regret after after learning of the political situation here. Some names which come to mind are Gil Scott-Heron, Cassandra Wilson and Meshell Ndegeocello. [11]
The Red Sea Jazz Festival could have been a festival to celebrate the free spirit of Jazz music, and this beautiful tradition of oppressed minorities. Instead, it uses music as a tool for whitewashing military occupation, apartheid and oppression of the Palestinian people. In view of all this, we are asking you: Please cancel your participation in the festival. Boycott Apartheid.!
We will gladly address any questions or comments you may have.
Sincerely,
Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within
http://www.boycottisrael.info/
[1] http://www.boycottisrael.info/
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Palestinian_exodus
[3] http://ww4report.com/node/5991
[4] http://goisrael.com/tourism_eng/tourist%20information/discover%20israel/...
[5] http://www.redseajazzeilat.com/en/about/
[6] http://www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/about-face-1.170267?trail...
http://pulsemedia.org/2010/08/23/we’ll-take-over-the-world-ministry-of-foreign-affairs-allocates-100-million-shekel-for-state-branding/
[7]http://mondoweiss.net/2012/11/israeli-ministry-of-tourism-map-annexes-ov...
[8] http://pulsemedia.org/2012/12/12/israel-2012-the-question-of-a-nation-wh...
[9] http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Culture-Minister-Livnat-slams-artists-for-Ar...
[10] http://eng.israports.co.il/IsraelPortsCompany/aboutcompany/israports/Pag...
[11] Eddie Palmieri, Jason Morana, Tuba Skiny http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4109716,00.html
Portico Quartet http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4317601,00.html
Andreas Öber http://refrainplayingisrael.blogspot.co.il/2012/12/andreas-oberg-respect...
Stanley Jordan http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/alexander-billet/thanks-stanley-jord...
Gil Scott-Heron http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/news/1-latest-news/4764-gill-scott-...
Cassandra Wilson http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/cassandra-wilson-cancels-holon...
Meshell Ndegeocello https://twitter.com/OfficialMeshell/status/342311007412183040 ; https://twitter.com/OfficialMeshell/status/342447140938842112 ; https://twitter.com/OfficialMeshell/status/347759388070645760