NO DANCING ON GAZA'S GRAVES
PROTEST THE ISRAELI APARTHEID
DANCE TROUPE COMING TO ANN ARBOR
7:30 PM Sharp, Saturday February 14, 2009
3:30 PM Sharp, Sunday, February 15, 2009
(performances start at 8 PM and 4 PM)
Power Center, 121 Fletcher (at Huron) UMich-Ann Arbor
DANCE TROUPE COMING TO ANN ARBOR
7:30 PM Sharp, Saturday February 14, 2009
3:30 PM Sharp, Sunday, February 15, 2009
(performances start at 8 PM and 4 PM)
Power Center, 121 Fletcher (at Huron) UMich-Ann Arbor
(see map below or click here)
Sponsored by the Middle East Task Force with support from Home for Peace and Justice; MidEast JustPeace; Newaygo County People for Peace; Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends; Ann Arbor Coalition Against War; Palestine Office; Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice; the Rev. Naim Ateek, Director of Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, Jerusalem; and the Israel/Palestine Action Group of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship.
Occupied Ramallah, Palestine - 27 December 2008: Now, more than ever, the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee, BNC, calls upon international civil society not just to protest and condemn in diverse forms Israel's massacre in Gaza, but also to join and intensify the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel … Without sustained,effective pressure by people of conscience the world over, Israel will continue with its gradual, rolling acts of genocide against the Palestinians, burying any prospects for a just peace under the blood and rubble of Gaza, Nablus and Jerusalem.The University Musical Society is bringing the Batsheva Dance Company of Tel Aviv to Ann Arbor for two performances. This is a violation of the 2004 Palestinian call to "comprehensively and consistently boycott all Israeli academic and cultural institutions" and the 2005 call of 171 Palestinian civil society organizations for broad boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel. The Batsheva Dance Company is funded by the Israeli government, it has no Arab performers, and is "proud to be considered Israel's leading ambassador." Ohad Naharin, the dance company's director, is an Israeli army veteran and current Israeli soldiers/reservists also belong to the company. We urge you to join us as we nonviolently oppose these performances as part of a sustained BDS campaign.
What you can do:
1. Call, write, or send an e-letter to Ken Fischer and the UMS Board asking them to cancel the show and honor the boycott against Israel (go to http://michiganpeacenetwork.org/eletters/).
2. Write letters to the editor of the Michigan Daily and Ann Arbor News.
3. Don't buy tickets to the Batsheva performance.
4. If you already have tickets then exchange them for another show.
5. Please join us in nonviolently protesting the Batsheva performances unless the UMS cancels them.
Click here to download a PDF file of the Ann Arbor Batsheva Dance Company protest leaflet.
RSVP (not required) on:
Click on the image below to enlarge it.
1 comment:
The Israeli art and culture world is one of the only movements in israel that actively speaks social change through art - boycotting it would be a dangerous distraction from the real issues at hand. regarding the fact that reservists and active duty soldiers may perform in the troupe, is also unfair and illogical because every israeli serves and is subject to reserve duty (it's horrible but true) so what are you going to accomplish by attempting to shut out artistic expression that in no way advocates for the continued subjugation of palestinians? i am a former u of m dance major and currently a peace activist living in israel and this will accomplish nothing.
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