DUBLIN (Dispatches) – Hundreds of Irish artists, including actors, novelists, playwrights, poets, designers, composers, architects, painters, sculptors, filmmakers and others, have expressed solid support for the international anti-Zionist movement of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), and announced that they intend not to perform or exhibit in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) announced that its “Irish Artists’ Pledge to Boycott Israel” has just passed the 1,250 signatory mark.
The IPSC said the boycott of the Zionist regime also means that the cultural workers would not accept any funding from institutions linked to the occupying regime.
The pledge signed by the artists stated that the boycott would continue, “until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights”.
The Irish artists’ pledge was initiated by renowned composer, and IPSC co-founder, Raymond Deane.
It commits signatories to refrain from performing in the occupied territories. The campaign was launched by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) in August 2010.
Irish singer and songwriter Damien Dempsey hoped the boycott would encourage young people in the occupied territories who disagreed with the regime to “speak out”.
Musician Donal Lunny said he was taking part to “express solidarity with the Palestinian people”.
When asked about the boycott’s chances of success, Eoin Dillon, a performer with Irish and world music band Kila, said: “It worked in South Africa.”
The BDS movement was initiated in 2005 by over 170 Palestinian organizations that were pushing for “various forms of boycott against Israel until it meets its obligations under international law.”
Thousands of volunteers worldwide have since then joined the BDS movement, which calls for people and groups across the world to cut economic, cultural and academic ties to Tel Aviv, to help promote the Palestinian cause.