We Refuse to be Complicit! Declaration of Swiss Artists Responding to the Palestinian Appeal for Solidarity

The following Swiss artists signed a declaration in response to the Israeli “Culturescapes” festival, scheduled to bring Brand Israel to Switzerland:

When Israel, through the Culturescapes festival, conducts a wide public relations campaign in Switzerland, when the program Swiss Season invites Swiss artists to present their works in prestigious venues in Israel, the undersigned artists and cultural actors hereby express their rejection of the politics of the Israeli state, policies which, for over 60 years, violate the rights of the Palestinian people.

The flattering image that Israel seeks to present, an image of a country in which creativity blooms in freedom, clashes with the reality that the Palestinian people endures. The refugees are still refused their right to return, Palestinians citizens of Israel are subject to legal and cultural segregation, the Gaza Strip is still under siege, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem remain under military occupation. In contempt of the law and public protestations, Israel continues the colonization and the construction of the separation wall in the West Bank and Jerusalem. We recognize in these politics the traits of an apartheid regime, as defined by international law.

In order to resist against this oppressive situation, and in order to struggle against the impunity that Israel enjoys through the support of the great powers, Palestinian civil society launched an appeal for solidarity in the form of Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions – BDS). We note that the non-violent boycott, when it gains wide popular support, is an effective means of putting pressure on those in power. Israeli companies such as Agrexco, which exploited agricultural land in the Occupied Territories, and multinational corporations such as Veolia, which is implicated in the construction of the light train project that connects the illegal settlements to the center of Jerusalem, have been subject to the successful pressure of BDS supporters. BDS is also adopted by the group of Israeli citizens, Boycott from Within, continuing their actions despite the anti-boycott law passed recently in the Israeli parliament.

Palestinian artists and intellectuals launched the Palestinian call for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel – PACBI), directed at their fellow artists and intellectuals all over the world. Many internationally recognizes names have responded to the call, including John Berger, Bjork, Elvis Costello, Brian Eno, Eduardo Galeano, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Henning Mankell, Massive Attack, Arundhati Roy, and Carlos Santana. Israel”s present publicity offensive in Switzerland gives us the opportunity to respond in our turn to this Palestinian appeal for solidarity.

We refuse to be complicit. Conscious of our political responsibility as artists and as citizens, we express our support for the boycott, and we pledge not to present our works in Israel, for as long as persist the occupation and the colonization of the Palestinian territories, for as long as equality is denied Palestinian who are citizens of Israel, and for as long as the right of return of the refugees is refused.

Original Version (French) : http://www.bds-info.ch/fr/campagnes/declaration-des-artistes-en-suisse


Signatories

Myriam Abourousse – plastic arts

Joí«l Aguet – theater historian, dramatist

Ariane Arlotti – photographer

Oke Asso – painter

Pascal Auberson – singer, composer

Jacques Basler – sculptor

Julien Basler – stage director, actor

Ahmed Belbachir – actor

Martine Benoí®t – art therapist

Néfissa Bénouniche – storyteller

Fabienne Berger – dancer, choreographer

Marco Berrettini – choreographer

í‰liane Beytrison – plastic arts

Jean-Philippe Bolle – painter, draftsman

Alain Bottarelli – film distributer

Jean-Luc Bideau – actor

William Blank – composer, conductor

Wolfgang Bortlik – writer

Pascal Bourquin – painter

Maya Bí¶sch – stage director

Giorgio Brasey – actor, stage director

Michel Bí¼hler – singer, writer

Antonio Buil Pueyo – actor

Ozan í‡agdas – musician, singer, saz player

Carmen Caldarea – painter

Mat Callahan – musician, producer

Fiamma Camesi – actor, stage director

Nicolas Cantillon – dancer, choreographer

Nicolas Carrel – sound poet

Isabelle Chladek – actor

Frédéric Choffat – filmmaker

Paed Conca – musician, composer

Martine Corbat – actor

Catherine Corthésy – plastic arts

Michí¨le Courvoisier – pianist

Roger Cuneo – writer, singer, actor

Sami Daher – storyteller

Claude Darbellay – baritone-bass

Tareq Daoud – director

Anne Delahaye – dancer, choreographer

Amina Djahnine – filmmaker

Alois Dubach – sculptor

Valentine Dubois – jewelry maker

Jean-Jacques Dí¼nki – pianist, composer

Yan Duyvendak – performance artist

Christine Ferrier – culture communication

Heike Fiedler – author, poet, performance artist

Foofwa d’Imobilité – dancer-choreographer

Deirdre Foster – actor, storyteller

Maoro Frascotti – painter, graphic novel illustrator

Céline Froidevaux – plastic arts

Hubert Froidevaux – Plonk & Replonk, editor

Jacques Froidevaux – Plonk & Replonk, editor

Massimo Furlan – performance artist

Jorge Gajardo Muñoz – historian

Jacques Gardel – stage director

André Gazut – filmmaker

Julie Gilbert – dramatist, screenwriter

Oskar Gómez Mata – director, actor

Claude Goretta – filmmaker

Jean Grí¤del – stage director

Sébastien Grosset – author, dramatist

Christine Guye – pianist

Franí§ois Guye – violoncellist

Anne-Marie Haller – film director

Wenzel A. Haller – artistic director

Nadia Hammadi – jewelry maker

Redouane Haribe – musician, oud player

Robert Indermaur – sculptor

Anina Jendreyko – actor

Jopo – saxophonist

Nathan Jucker – graphic arts, video maker

Huguette Junod – writer

Yaí«lle Kneubí¼hler – jewelry maker

Heidi Kipfer – actor

Oliver Krí¤henbí¼hl – Plastic arts

Daniel Kí¼nzi – filmmaker

Karine Guignard, La Gale – rapper

Pascal Gravat – choreographer, dancer

Yann Hynek – painter

Thomas Laubacher – actor

Pierre Lautomne – singer

Béatrice Leresche – storyteller

Frédérique Leresche – actor

Nicolas Leresche – actor, choreographer

Logovarda – peinter

Juan José Lozano – film director

Yann Marussich – performer

Janine Massard – writer

Jean Mayerat – photographer

Fernand Melgar – film director

Yann Mercanton – actor, stage director

Michí¨le Millner – chanteuse, actor

Patrick Mohr – stage director, actor

Muchach – rappeur

Thaddeus Nsumpi – singer, composer

Guido Nussbaum – painter

Martine Paschoud – stage director, actor

Maria Pérez – actor

Daniel Perrin – composer

Michaí«l Perruchoud – writer

Dany Petermann – painter

Yves Pinguely – actor, stage director

Stefania Pinnelli – actor

Ingeborg Poffet – singer, accordionist

POL – Electronic music

Isabelle Pralong – graphic novelist

Arthur de Pury – curator

Francis Reusser – filmmaker

Claire de Ribaupierre – dramatist

La Ribot – choreographer

Franí§ois Rochaix – stage director

Coralia Rodriguez – storyteller

Edurne Rodriguez – plastic arts

Annette Rommel – culture management

Rafik Ben Salah – writer

Boubacar Samb – actor

Suzan Samanci – writer

Samir – filmmaker

Christoph Schaub – filmmaker

Lucas Schlaepfer – sculptor

Karim Slama – humorist

Alain Tanner – filmmaker

Tenko – painter, illustrator

Udo Theiss – illustrator, graphic novel draftsman

Anne-Dominique Thiébaud – jewelry maker

José Tippenhauer, Geos – rapper

Tom Tirabosco – illustrator, graphic novel draftsman

Teslim Tí¶re – writer David Valí¨re – actor

David Valí¨re – actor

Roberto Ventrella – designer

Jacquelline Veuve – film director

Grégoire Vuilleumier, Greis – rapper

Nicolas Wadimoff – film director

Dominique Ziegler – author, stage director

Vanessa Zurini – actor

 

 

 

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