Elton John is scheduled to perform in Apartheid Israel on June 17th, 2010. This performance would undermine the international cultural boycott of Israel, which was initiated by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), as a means of non-violent resistance to Apartheid and Colonialism.

In addition to normalizing the oppression of the Palestinian people by the Zionist government of Israel, Sir Elton”s performance is sponsored by Israel Discount Bank, whose “trading room and other computer services are located on land stolen from the Palestinian village of Bil”in by the illegal settlement of Modiin Illit…[and which] finances construction in the settlements of Har Homa, Beitar Illit and Ma”ale Adumim…” (Source: PACBI)

PACBI has issued a statement asking Elton John to honor the cultural boycott: “The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) was genuinely troubled to learn that that you are scheduled to perform in Israel in June, in violation of the widely-endorsed Palestinian Guidelines for the International Cultural Boycott of Israel. We call upon you, as a world famous artist and a public supporter of key human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Oxfam, not to perform in Israel, a state that maintains an illegal and inhumane system of occupation, colonization and apartheid and that has been widely accused by leading UN experts and human rights organizations, including Amnesty, of committing war crimes and other grave violations of human rights…” [read full statement]

The British Committee for the Universities of Palestine (BRICUP) initiated an advocacy campaign, through their open letter, in which they encourage Elton John to “…read what Judge Goldstone said about the onslaught on Gaza; what Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have been saying for decades about the crimes committed against the Palestinians. Of course the Israeli state denies it has a case to answer, though it”s knee-deep in ethnic cleansing and land-theft and the endless daily suffocating of Palestinian lives and hopes.”

Carlos Santana was scheduled to perform in Israel in 2010, but cancelled due to “scheduling problems”. While Elton John has indicated, in conjunction with Amnesty International, that “we should all stand up and speak out for basic human rights”, there are no “advocacy offsets” that may be purchased to redeem the normalization of apartheid.

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