NEW YORK, November 15, 2014 – (WAFA) – The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel (Adalah-NY) organized Wednesday night dance and songs in protest of Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company’s performances in Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), said Adalah-New York Thursday in a press release.

According to the group press release, 80 New Yorkers gathered Wednesday night on the busy Lafayette Avenue outside BAM to dance and sing in protest of Batsheva Dance Company's performances in BAM's 2014 Next Wave Festival.

The group slammed Batsheva's participation as a “part of the “Brand Israel” initiative designed to distract from the facts of Israel’s ongoing occupation and colonization of Palestinian land, and its denial of rights to Palestinians the world over.”

The group noted that the demonstration was endorsed by 15 other local human rights organizations including the BDS Arts Coalition, Brooklyn For Peace, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, and the Ya-Ya Network.

“Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs touts Batsheva as perhaps the best known global ambassador of Israeli culture. Batsheva is funded in part by that government office as well as by the Ministry of Culture and Sports. While Batsheva artistic director Ohad Naharin has criticized Israeli abuses of Palestinians, Batsheva Dance Company continues in its role as a prominent cultural ambassador of the Israeli state,” said the group in the press release.

The demonstration began with a dabke (traditional Palestinian dance) lesson led by Adalah-NY member Riham Barghouti, with musical accompaniment by the Rude Mechanical Orchestra followed by songs from Dave Lippman. Chants highlighted the disconnect between the Batsheva dancers' virtuosity and their company's political role, including, 'Their range of motion cannot hide / Their support for apartheid' and 'Batsheva gets no ovation / Ambassador for occupation!'

Protester Carlos Pareja, an independent media maker, said: “I support drawing attention to the abuses against the Palestinian people. We can't have only the 'nice' face of Israel, which is what we often see here.”

Echoing that point, Barghouti told the crowd: “ Today, only a few months after the most brutal of all Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip —which killed over 2100 Palestinians including 500 children and leveled whole neighborhoods, leading Amnesty International and others to accuse Israel of war crimes —yet again BAM has invited the Israeli dance company Batsheva to whitewash Israel's crimes.”

The group noted that interactions with Brooklynites were mostly positive, as curious people took flyers and asked questions about the activities. Passersby and BAM ticket holders alike stood and watched the high-energy Freedom Debka Group and the Columbia Palestinian Dabke Brigade, two Palestinian dance troupes. The protest ended with two moving dances by Cetiliztli Nauhcampa Quetzalcoatl, a Mexica danza group, who offered 'dance and prayers for dignity and solidarity' with Palestinians during their performance.

Dancer Karen Lopez explained afterward: “We are indigenous people who have been displaced and seen our traditions threatened with destruction. We are always there in solidarity and resistance with other displaced peoples, including Palestinians.”

The group also noted that Wednesday night's protest was part of the global movement of boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law. The Palestinian civil society call for BDS includes boycotting Israeli academic and cultural institutions complicit in Israel’s denial of Palestinian rights. Adalah-NY is also organizing a protest next Tuesday, November 18, at the concert of the Touré-Raichel Collective, which features another premiere Israeli 'cultural ambassador,' musician Idan Raichel.

K.F./ T.R.