US group calls for boycott of Israeli orchestra concert

Sunday November 16, 2008 09:01 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

In the state of Michigan, home to one of the largest concentrations of Arabs in the US, a group called the Middle East Task Force has called on a state-funded university to call off a concert by the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (JSO). The group has called for a boycott of all Israeli goods and services, as a way to pressure the Jewish state to end what the Middle East Task Force (METF) call apartheid policies against the Palestinian population whose land Israel occupies.

Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra

The Michigan branch of the METF accused the University of Michigan of 'condoning Israeli apartheid' by inviting the orchestra to perform on campus. In a statement, the organization stated that "since the JSO is one of the primary promoters and exporters of Israeli cultural life, one of its functions is to boost Israel's image on the world stage. In this way, the truth about the Israeli occupation of Palestine becomes suppressed, and its institutionalized attacks on Palestinian cultural heritage are ignored. Any attempt by the US hosts of the tour to develop ties with this Orchestra, therefore, amounts to condoning Israeli apartheid.”

The statement, which was sent to the President of the University, added, “As such, we call upon the JSO's scheduled hosts to be mindful of the appeal issued in 2006 by Palestinian filmmakers, artists and cultural workers … to end all cooperation with Israeli art, film and cultural organizations and institutions sponsored by the Israeli government. We urge the hosts to condemn Israel for its racist and discriminatory practices, rather than condoning them. Finally, we call upon all American citizens of conscience to support the call by the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee and to boycott all cultural institutions supported by the apartheid Israeli state."

In addition, the group said, “Oddly enough for an orchestra that hails from Jerusalem, a city where Palestinians make up about one-third of the population, there are, apparently, no Palestinians in the orchestra.”

The call for a Michigan boycott is just the latest in a campaign of actions in the US and around the world by various groups calling for a boycott of Israeli goods and services. The boycott/divestment campaign has been successful in getting several European companies and nations to completely divest from Israel, and others to divest from branches of Israeli companies located in settlements on the Palestinian side of the internationally-recognized 1967 border between Israel and the West Bank.

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