Protest at Play sponsored by Israeli State

by IPSC - IPSC Mon Sep 12, 2005 10:34 supportpalestine at ireland dot com

The production of ‘The Timekeepers’, at this year’s Dublin Fringe Festival, has been ‘generously supported’ by the Embassy of Israel in Ireland.


The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) believes that, in accepting funding from the State of Israel, the Fringe Festival has regrettably put itself on the side of oppression and injustice.


Our concern is not the play itself, nor the theatre company, but the financial support of a government which is complicit in the on-going occupation of Palestinian lands and the flouting of international law.

The play will take place during the week when Palestinians commemorate the 1982 massacres at Sabra and Shatila and when, disgracefully, the UN has invited arch war criminal Ariel Sharon to address the international community's most prominent forum.


The IPSC is asking members of the public to refrain from attending the play and instead to support the protests outside the theatre until the festival agrees to return the sponsorship money to the Israeli Embassy.

No self-respecting cultural festival would have accepted financial support from the South African government during the years of Apartheid. Today, as governments fail to act, it is up to civil society to demand justice for Palestine by supporting the international call to isolate the State of Israel.


Protests will take place from 7.30pm on Monday 12 and Tuesday 13 September outside the Andrew’s Lane Theatre, Dublin 2.


The director of the Fringe Festival, Mr Wolfgang Hoffman, can be contacted on (01) 679 5720 or emailed at wolfgang@fringefest.com. Please see overleaf for reasons why you should support this protest.


The IPSC can be contacted at:
supportpalestine@ireland.com or PO Box 9124, Dublin 1, Ireland
www.ipsc.ie


REASONS TO PROTEST


MILITARY OCCUPATION
The closures, curfews and checkpoints imposed during the 38-year occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem have destroyed the Palestinian economy. Three-quarters of Palestinians now live on less than $2 a day and over a quarter of children are anaemic. In the last five years, Israel has killed over 3,600 Palestinians (including over 600 children). Restrictions imposed by the military occupation make it impossible for Palestinian theatre to thrive and to participate in international festivals.


‘DISENGAGEMENT’
Post ‘disengagement’, Israel still remains in charge of border crossings, continuing to control the movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza. The Palestinian government has no control over Gazan airspace/airports, territorial waters/seaports or natural resources, such as water or gas, and no chance of overcoming its structural economic dependency on Israel.


The real agenda behind ‘disengagement’ was summed up in an interview last year with Dov Weisglass (senior aide to Ariel Sharon): “[Disengagement] supplies the amount of formaldehyde that's necessary so that there will not be a political process with the Palestinians ... when you freeze that process you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and you prevent a discussion about the refugees, the borders and Jerusalem. Effectively, this whole package that is called the Palestinian state, with all that it entails, has been removed from our agenda indefinitely”.



ILLEGAL SETTLEMENTS
During the weeks of ‘disengagement’, construction of the Apartheid Wall and illegal settlements accelerated. Over 420,000 illegal settlers remain in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. That’s more than 50 times the number of settlers evacuated from Gaza.


APARTHEID ISRAEL
Palestinian citizens of Israel form 20% of the population, yet are denied equal access to the material (land, housing, water ...) and welfare (education, child benefits ...) resources of the State as Israel’s Jewish citizens.


THE WALL
A system of 8-metre-high walls, barbed wire fences, military roads, trenches and watchtowers, stretching deep into the West Bank. According to UN data, 237,000 Palestinians will be trapped between the wall and the Green Line and 160,000 others will remain on the Palestinian side, cut off from their land. In July 2004, the wall was declared illegal by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which called on governments to seek its removal.

Time and again governments have shown their reluctance to demand justice for Palestine. It is therefore up to civil society to act now and support the international boycott campaign.

by Medb Mon Sep 12, 2005 14:37

To quote the IPSC text above : "Our concern is not the play itself, nor the theatre company, but the financial support of a government which is complicit in the on-going occupation of Palestinian lands and the flouting of international law."


Under other circumstances, those protesting tonight would likely encourage people to see "The Timekeepers". The play deals with tolerance and, as I understand it, attempts to generate discussion on the lack of tolerance (never mind respect) for gay men and women in a religious state such as Israel.


Hopefully, the Israeli sponsorship will be returned and those of conscience will have an opportunity to see the play.

by rob Mon Sep 12, 2005 15:04

The content of the play seem to be irrelevant to you, your main concern is that the Israeli Government gave some sponsorship to the production. You dont give a damn about the play itself or theatre in general as a platfrom for examining and raising issue.

I for one will be attending the play as a keen theatre goer AND as a supporter of Israel.

I suppose the Production should have checked with you guys before accepting the money.?

The sheer arrogance

by gordi Mon Sep 12, 2005 16:05

is about relationship between an old Jew and a young German gay, both fixing watches for the Germans as prisoners in a concentration camp.
It has all to do with tolerance and respact and has nothing to do no with the conflict, nor with Israel, nor with the " lack of tolerance (never mind respect) for gay men and women in a religious state such as Israel", which is, by the way, far better than in Ireland.

But the IPSC calls to boycott the International Pride Parade in Jerusalem, tells something about them, isn't it?

by Mr Soya Bean Man Mon Sep 12, 2005 16:32

IPSC says it has no problem with the content of the play, so the reason for the protest is purely that it is backed financially by the Israeli Embassy?

Therefore IPSC must believe the play is not a paid-up propaganda tool. Maybe you think the association will make Israel look good. But what if the play is terrible? Wouldn't that be of more benefit to your campaign?

If you believe the content has not been affected, what possibly can be your objection to Israel spending money on art instead of attack helicopters?

Tomatoes produced on occupied land, on the other hand, produce a financial benefit for the state. It is more legitimate to protest against the tasty but bad tomatoes.

No, I haven't read or seen the play.

Why aren't you picketing RTE, the Abbey and Gate Theatres and the hundreds of other Irish-State-supported art ventures when, presumably, you would also accuse Ireland of facilitating the American war machine in Shannon? Okay, so you're a campaign against Israel and not Ireland, leave that to others.

Because Ireland has little contact with Israel, there are few enough things for you to jump on and in this case I think you are picking an easy and wrong target. It makes you look a bit rabid.

by Medb Mon Sep 12, 2005 17:12

You should know that the Jerusalem City Hall banned the international pride march in June on the grounds that it might prove to be "offensive" to many of the city's residents and provoke "unrest". When the parade eventually went ahead an Orthodox Jewish individual ran into the march stabbing 3 of the participants.

What a wonderfully tolerant society!

by Medb Mon Sep 12, 2005 17:36

Link here (http://www.miftah.org/PrinterF.cfm?DocId=8006) to a recent article about the 2005 Gazan Theatre Festival. Initially the festival was intended as an international event but international participants withdrew due to concerns about checkpoints and "being in a war zone".


Also link here (http://www.alrowwad.virtualactivism.net) to Al-Rowwad, an Independent centre for artistic, cultural, and theatre training for children in Aida Camp (West Bank). Site contains information on on-going Al-Rowwad projects to help the children of the camp through the medium of the theatre. Donations can be made online. Unlike the Fringe Festival, Al-Rowwad does not have the benefit of Israeli funding.

by Ali ibn Sharmootah Mon Sep 12, 2005 17:49

"You should know that the Jerusalem City Hall banned the international pride march in June on the grounds that it might prove to be "offensive" to many of the city's residents and provoke "unrest""

The complaints came from Muslim, Jewish and Christian groups in Jerusalem. Israel is the only nation in the Middle East where Gays aren't murdered for being gay.
It's incredible that "progressives" continue to support a society (Muslim) that kills gays, kills women-honor killings- and is absolutely against freedom of any sort. You have of course seen a Muslim man wearing tight Levis, a T-shirt and his base baseball cap on backwards, followed by a ghost- a woman covered from head to toe walking several paces behind him with her face covered and only a screen or slits for her to look through.

by gordi Tue Sep 13, 2005 00:21

The international pride parade didn't take place because its date was too close to the disengagement, and the police couldn't support enough cops - all cops were needed.
It is supposed to take place next year.

Yes, the paraders were attacked by a zealot. Ofcoarse it couldn't happen anywhere in the world. all zealots have settled in Israel.

Should I judge the Irish according to "Sisters Magdalena?" You also seem v e r y intolerate religeous society. atleast in Judaism an out-of-marriage child isn't considered a bastard, and the mother doesn't get life imprisonment with no trial for having it, or because she was raped.

I live in Jerusalem and I'm gay.
Gays are treated (In Jerusalem! city with 50% religeus citizens!) far better than many other places in the western world.
Believe me I know what I'm talking about.

by Ali H. Fri Sep 23, 2005 17:20

Israel is a haven for gay rights ... yeah right!

A 30-year-old haredi man who was seen approaching an event organized by Jerusalem's gay and lesbian community in the city center Tuesday night was detained for questioning after police found a knife in his possession, police said.

Simultaneously, several thousand haredi protesters pelted three city busses with stones Tuesday evening at a central Jerusalem thoroughfare in a continuation of the protest over last week's gay pride parade in the city, police said.