Campaign Background
What is Cultural Boycott?
Academic and cultural boycott is one way of answering the 2005 Palestinian Civil Society Call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions. There are many varieties of cultural boycott, but one way to institute this strategy is to get artists to support the boycott by refusing to perform in Israel until it ends its occupation and apartheid practices against Palestinians. View the complete guidelines for applying cultural boycott at the Palestinian Campaign for the Boycott of Israel website, here.
Why the Pixies?
When a Boycott from Within, an Israeli peace group that supports the 2005 call for BDS, found out that the Pixies were planning a performance in Tel Aviv they sprung into action and published an open letter asking the Pixies to cancel the show. Click here to read Boycott from Within”s open letter to the Pixies.
The main goal of this campaign is to get as many Pixies fans as possible on board with our demand that the Pixies not entertain apartheid in Israel. Where do we find fans of the Pixies? The internet is teeming with fan blogs, Facebook fan groups, and twitter accounts dedicated to the Pixies. Our plan is to get our message into as many of these social media venues as possible. Although groups like Boycott from Within, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, and the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) are all working on this campaign, it really is a decentralized effort and anyone can get involved by spreading our message via their preferred social media platforms. Click on your preferred social media platform for specific instructions: Twitter, Facebook, Blogs
How to Get Involved on Twitter
Twitter is a great way to spread the word about our campaign and raise awareness that performing in Israel is an implicit endorsement of Israel”s apartheid practices. You may choose simply to “retweet” messages from the US Campaign or USACBI or you may want to compose your own original message. In either case, we hope that the following instructions will make it easier to join our campaign.
Tweeting @ the pixies
In addition to the band”s official @PIXIES Twitter Account, several band members have their own Twitter accounts. These include lead singer Black Francis (http://twitter.com/MrBlackFrancis), drummer Dave Lovering (http://twitter.com/DavidLovering), guitarist Joey Santiago (http://twitter.com/JoeySantiago), and the Breeders (http://twitter.com/thebreeders) which is bassist Kim Deal”s other band. When you send a tweet that includes @PIXIES, @MrBlackFrancis, etc. then your message will be visible to the account holder. The more messages sent “@” these people, the more attention will be paid to them.
Trending # BDS and # Pixies
Twitter keeps track of the most popular topics based on counts of #keyword. The most popular keywords are displayed on Twitter”s homepage. This is one way to spread the word about BDS and to tie performing in Israel to supporting apartheid. Include #apartheid #israel or #BDS #Pixies in your message to increase the trending of our campaign. You can also search all messages with #keyword to track how many people are participating in our campaign.
Sample Tweets
@PIXIES Stand against apartheid – cancel your Tel Aviv show! http://bit.ly/awBGUh #BDS #pixies
@JoeySantiago thanks for supporting UNICEF”s Tap Project please support Gazan children w/o potable water. http://bit.ly/awBGUh #BDS #pixies
@thebreeders thanks for supporting Haiti–now support survivors of Israel”s unnatural disaster. http://bit.ly/awBGUh #BDS #pixies #apartheid
@PIXIES stop the wave of mutilation in Gaza & WB–Don”t play apartheid Israel http://bit.ly/awBGUh #BDS #pixies #antiwar #apartheid #israel
@PIXIES Stuck here out of gas, Out here on the Gaza Strip. End the siege. Don”t cross our picket line http://bit.ly/awBGUh #BDS #pixies
@PIXIES Dead sea make it float,One sip from the salty wine,Dead sea make you choke.Stop DeadSea Settlement http://bit.ly/awBGUh #BDS #pixies
@PIXIES gouge away at apartheid – join the boycott http://bit.ly/awBGUh #BDS #pixies #antiwar #apartheid #israel
@PIXIES where are you minds? Try this trick and spin it (Israeli apartheid) http://bit.ly/awBGUh #BDS #pixies #antiwar #apartheid #israel
@PIXIES HEY I”ve been tryin to meet you – but can”t get through Israel”s apartheid wall. http://bit.ly/awBGUh #BDS #pixies #apartheid
How to Get Involved on Facebook
Facebook is as easy way to spread the word about our campaign and raise awareness that performing in Israel is an implicit endorsement of Israel”s apartheid practices. Post messages on your wall to let your friends know about the campaign to pressure the Pixies to cancel their Israeli performance or join Pixies fan groups to post messages there. Posting messages to Pixies fan groups is the most important way to support this campaign on Facebook, please consider joining some of the fan groups listed below in order to regularly post messages about our campaign. We”ve provided a few talking points to help you craft your Facebook messages about cultural boycott and the Pixies.
Pixies Facebook Fan Groups
· http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/PIXIES/22939707441?ref=search&sid=677730991.382303974..1
· http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Pixies/33328981500?ref=ts
· http://www.facebook.com/search/?flt=1&q=pixies&o=65&sid=815322781.382303974..1&s=10#!/everybodytheband?ref=search&sid=815322781.382303974..1
· http://www.facebook.com/search/?flt=1&q=pixies&o=65&sid=815322781.382303974..1&s=70#!/pages/The-Pixies-Music/172856004003?ref=search&sid=815322781.382303974..1
Talking Points for Facebook Messages
* The right of Israelis to enjoy a concert shouldn”t overshadow the right of Palestinians to live their lives.
Israel should be isolated until it complies with international law – just like South Africa was. Most artists wouldn”t even consider performing in apartheid South Africa, why are they performing in Israel like everything is “normal”
* Performing in Israel as though “everything is normal in this Western-style democracy” sets a standard that Israel”s illegal occupation and apartheid practices against Palestinians are ok. In reality Israel should face legal sanctions for it”s violation of international laws against collective punishment, preventing refugees from returning to their homes, and colonizing occupied territory.
* Everything in Israel is not normal. Israel is not a democracy. Israel imposes two various sets of laws for Israeli citizens of Arab descent and Jewish Israeli citizens and distributes social services in the same uneven manner. The Israeli military imposes two various sets of laws in the Occupied Territories – one for Palestinians (military law) and one for Jewish settlers (civilian law).
* Why should Israelis in Tel Aviv get to enjoy a rock concert when their government is imposing a siege on Gaza that prevents Palestinians from even enjoying a nutritious meal?
Find more talking points on Israeli apartheid and boycott here.
How to Get Involved Using Blogs and Fansites
You can spread the word about our campaign by posting about it on your own blog or by commenting on other people”s blogs. Like with Facebook, it will be most useful if you comment on Pixies fan blogs or other blogs frequented by fans of the Pixies. Please use the talking points above or here to craft your post. You may also want to register with some of the Pixies fansites below and leave comments there.
Pixies Fansites
· http://www.pixiesmusic.com/news.php (official pixies site)
· http://dag.wieers.com/debaser/
· http://www.fanpop.com/spots/pixies
