NEW YORK, February 12, 2011 (WAFA) – Human rights organizations Saturday called for the boycott of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s (IPO) performances in the United States, according to a press release.
The IPO is scheduled to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York on February 22 as part of its annual national tour of the United States.
Adalah –NY and other groups called on supporters to hold protests outside the halls where the Israeli orchestra is going to perform.
It said the protests respond to calls by Palestinian civil society “to boycott institutions that work to normalize the occupation of Palestinian territories and the oppression of Palestinians in Israel, the (Palestinian) territories, and in exile.”
Adalah-NY statement accused the Israel Philharmonic of “actively participating in whitewashing Israel's apartheid policies.”
It said that “by serving as cultural ambassadors for Israel, the Israel Philharmonic is supporting the Israeli government's “Brand Israel” initiative, an effort to divert public attention from Israel's oppression of the Palestinian people.”
The orchestra, it said, “refrains from criticism of Israel's policies, and is described by the American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra as ‘Israel’s finest cultural emissary,’ which ‘travels throughout the world…The goodwill created by these tours...is of enormous value to the State of Israel. As a result, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra maintains its position at the forefront of cultural diplomacy and the international music scene’.”
One corporate sponsor of the IPO's US tour is Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev, who hosted a gala fundraiser last November for the IPO tour at his New York jewelry store.
“The IPO thus partners with Leviev's companies though they have been shunned by UNICEF, CARE, Oxfam, the British and Norwegian governments, Hollywood stars and international investment firms due to Leviev’s construction of Israeli settlements and involvement in human rights abuses in the diamond industry in Southern Africa,” said Adalah-NY press release.
In addition to Adalah-NY, sponsors of the protests include Artists Against Apartheid - NYC, Al Awda-NY, Hunter Collage SJP, Jews Say No!, Middle East Crisis Response, Palestinian Club of Brooklyn College, NYU - SJP, War Resisters League New York Local, WESPAC, Women in Black-Union Square, and Women of a Certain Age.
M.A.
