Tag: BDS Movement

Madonna and the bias of some American artists

Popstar Madonna caused controversy by performing in the Eurovision Song Contest in Israel last weekend. She was reportedly paid one million dollars by Canadian-Israeli businessman Sylvan Adams. Madonna defended her decision to perform in her statement:

“I’ll never stop playing music to suit someone’s political agenda nor will I stop speaking out against violations of human rights wherever in the world they may be.” (1)

According to Sylvan Adams, it was easy to choose Madonna to be the star attraction of the event. Madonna “has expressed an affinity with the country and with Judaism via her Hebrew name Esther and her interest in Kabbalah.” Adams said:

“She’s a genuine friend of Israel, and she knows firsthand what our detractors – the lunatics from the BDS world – say is not true. She’s well aware about Eurovision and was keen to give it a boost.” (2)

Madonna is by no means the only American cultural figure or artist who has shown very unfortunate bias when it comes to Israel and Palestine. Last year, Pharrell Williams demanded that President Trump should stop playing his music at political rallies. The demand was completely justified, particularly because Williams’s song “Happy” was played at a Trump rally just hours after the horrible mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue. (3) However, soon after that Williams performed his song “Happy” in the annual fundraising gala for Israel Defence Forces IDF in Los Angeles. Other celebrity guests included Ashton Kutcher, Andy Garcia and Gerard Butler. (4, 5)

References:

1) “Israel brushes off Eurovision boycott calls with a big assist from Madonna” The Washington Post 17.5.2019

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/israel-brushes-off-eurovision-boycott-calls-with-a-big-assist-from-madonna/2019/05/16/cea3cb82-6c24-11e9-bbe7-1c798fb80536_story.html?utm_term=.283a566c89bf

2) “Sylvan Adams – The entrepreneur who’s bringing Madonna to Eurovision” The Jerusalem Post 13.5.2019

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Sylvan-Adams-The-entrepreneur-bringing-Madonna-to-Eurovision-and-more-589537

3) “Pharrell Williams demands Donald Trump stop playing his music at rallies” The Guardian 30.10.2018

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/oct/30/pharrell-williams-donald-trump-happy-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting

4) “Pharrell Williams criticised for singing ‘Happy’ to Israeli soldiers as part of army fundraiser” The National 12.11.2018

https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/music/pharrell-williams-criticised-for-singing-happy-to-israeli-soldiers-as-part-of-army-fundraiser-1.790860

5) “Friends of the Israel Defense Forces Gala Raises Record $60 Million for Soldiers” Variety 2.11.2018

https://variety.com/2018/scene/news/friends-of-the-israel-defense-forces-gala-pharrell-williams-1203018108/

My dilemma regarding Airbnb and other hospitality companies

Palestinian campaigners call for mass boycott of Airbnb today, on Wednesday the 15th of May, which is the 71st anniversary of the Nakba. Airbnb was supposed to refuse listing of rentals in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, but Airbnb has reversed their decision. (1, 2) The amount of illegal settlements has risen significantly during Trump’s presidency and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is even going to name one Jewish settlement in the disputed Golan Heights after Trump. (3, 4)

I am a lifestyle traveler and I have used Airbnb – and other hospitality companies – frequently. As an avid supporter of two-state solution and Palestinian rights I was happy to learn that Airbnb had decided to remove listings that are in illegal Israeli settlements. The fact that Airbnb has reversed their decision is very disappointing. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other organizations have condemned companies such as Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia and TripAdvisor because they have accepted listings from illegal Israeli settlements. (1, 2) Amnesty International mentioned those four companies in their report:

“In doing business with settlements, all four companies are contributing to, and profiting from, the maintenance, development and expansion of illegal settlements, which amount to war crimes under international criminal law.” (2)

I am probably not the only small income traveler who has this great dilemma: how to find affordable accommodation while traveling without compromising the things that are important to me? How many hospitality companies will have courage to support two-state solution and Palestinian rights?

References:

1) “Palestinian campaigners call for mass boycott of Airbnb on May 15” Al Jazeera 14.5.2019

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/palestinian-campaigners-call-mass-boycott-airbnb-15-190514150835132.html

2) “Airbnb to allow listings from illegal Israeli settlements” Al Jazeera 10.4.2019

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/airbnb-listings-illegal-israeli-settlements-190410002223703.html

3) “Trump era boosted illegal Israeli settlement building, report reveals” Daily Sabah 14.5.2019

https://www.dailysabah.com/mideast/2019/05/14/trump-era-boosted-illegal-israeli-settlement-building-report-reveals

4) “Netanyahu Seeks to Name a Golan Heights Settlement for President Trump” New York Times 23.4.2019

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/23/world/middleeast/netanyahu-golan-heights-trump.html

US Senate approves anti-BDS bill

The US Senate approved new anti-BDS bill by votes of 77-23, yesterday. The bill will be sent to the House of Representatives where it will probably face new debate. The only Republican who voted against the bill was Senator Rand Paul. (1, 2) He said:

“Our country was founded upon the concept and in the midst of a great boycott. At the time, we were boycotting British goods and most specifically, British tea. There is likely nothing more American than to protest, to dissent and to boycott.”

“The sad thing today is that we will be debating whether or not to place limitations on the First Amendment right to boycott, and we will do it because the vast majority of this body disagrees with the concept of what the people are boycotting over.” (1)

Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders said last week:

“While I do not support the BDS movement, we must defend every American’s constitutional right to engage in political activity. It is clear to me that this bill would violate Americans’ First Amendment rights.” (2)

References:

1) “US Senate approves anti-BDS bill, slowdown of Syria withdrawal” Al Jazeera 6.2.2019

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/senate-approves-anti-bds-bill-slowdown-syria-withdrawal-190206041549376.html

2) “Senate approves Syria, anti-BDS bill” The Hill 5.2.2019

https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/428572-senate-approves-syria-anti-bds-bill

The curious case of controversial statue in Haifa

A controversial statue called “McJesus”, made by Finnish artist Jani Leinonen, has caused uproar and violent demostrations in Haifa, Israel. The statue has been part of “Sacred Goods”, an exhibition about consumerism. Bizarrely, the statue was not supposed to be part of the exhibition, in the first place. Leinonen had asked the museum to remove his sculpture in September, because he had joined the BDS movement. (1, 2) Leinonen told to The Jerusalem Post:

“I joined the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, that upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity. Israel overtly uses culture as a form of propaganda to whitewash or justify its regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid over the Palestinian people. Therefore I do not wish to be part of this exhibition and I asked the museum to take my artwork off the exhibition.” (1)

In spite of Leinonen’s request, the statue remained as part of the exhibition. When Leinonen learned about the demonstrations on Saturday, he sent another message to the curator of the exhibition and demanded that his statue should be removed instantly. However, the spokeswoman of the museum said that the sculpture has been on loan from a Finnish gallery since August 2018 and “the museum has never received a request from the gallery to remove the sculpture.” The spokeswoman was unsure whether the curator of the museum had received the request from the artist. She said:

“The  frequency of such events connected with BDS activists that seek to prevent art exhibitions in Israel has arisen often over the past few years and the museum has to handle many cases of this kind. The Haifa Museum of Art works with dedication against attempts such as these so that Israelis who appreciate art will will continue to have access to it.” (1)

Following the protests, Director-General of the museum, Nissim Tal, agreed to post a warning at the entrance about the possibly offensive content. (1) However, the proposed solution did not satisfy Christian leaders who asked Haifa district court to order the museum and municipality to remove “McJesus” and “Ken Jesus Christ” from the public display. Also Israel’s culture minister Miri Regev has sent a letter to the director of the museum protesting the exhibition after she received complaints from many members of the Christian community. (2)

References:

1)”BDS threatens to take down Haifa’s Big Mac sculpture” The Jerusalem Post 13.1.2019

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/BDS-threatens-to-take-down-Haifas-Big-Mac-sculpture-577248

2) “Finnish artist joins calls for Haifa museum to remove his ‘McJesus’ statue” i24news 14.1.2019

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/193172-190114-finnish-artist-joins-calls-for-haifa-museum-to-remove-his-mcjesus-statue

The planned anti-BDS bill in USA

There have been interesting developments regarding the new planned anti-BDS bill “Combating BDS Act” introduced by Republican senator Marco Rubio. The bill targeting boycott, divestment and sanctions movement BDS is considered to be highly controversial and liberals, progressives, civil liberties organizations and prominent Democrats oppose the bill (1, 2). Senator Diane Feinstein said that the bill would be unconstitutional (3). The anti-BDS bill was stalled, partially because of the government shutdown, on Tuesday. However, Senator Rubio tweeted that he would try to organize another vote (4). Zack Beauchamp noted that the controversy regarding the bill shows how the two main parties’ approaches to Israel is changing:

“Support for Israel, so long a bipartisan issue, is becoming polarized, with Republicans willing to back Israel virtually unconditionally while Democrats are more willing to question Israeli policy and US support for it. “ (5)

References:

1)”Marco Rubio accuses Rashida Tlaib of anti-Semitism in battle over anti-free-speech pro-Israel bill” Alternet 9.1.2019

https://www.alternet.org/2019/01/marco-rubio-accuses-rashida-tlaib-of-anti-semitism-in-battle-over-anti-free-speech-pro-israel-bill/

2) “Senate anti-BDS bill slammed as ‘absurd’ amid US government shutdown” Middle East Eye 7.1.2019

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/absurd-senate-anti-bds-bill-slammed-amid-us-government-shutdown-1188429441

3) “US Senator calls anti-BDS act unconstitutional” Daily Sabah 9.1.2019

https://www.dailysabah.com/americas/2019/01/08/us-senator-calls-anti-bds-act-unconstitutional

4) “Anti-BDS measure stalled in US Senate but ‘will come back'” Al Jazeera 9.1.2019

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/anti-bds-measure-stalled-senate-190109150723359.html

5) “The controversy over laws punishing Israel boycotts, explained” Vox 9.1.2019

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/9/18172826/bds-law-israel-boycott-states-explained