Bono invited to honour Israel.

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press

Tuesday February 26, 2008 01:59

by Abu Saad - No Org anisation

Bono must consider his position on Apartheid again.

Bono has a hard decision to make . Live up to his old "Sun City" Anti-Apartheid stance.... or ignore Palestinian suffering in order to delight the Israeli military regime with a cultural visit.

Lyrics of Sun City 1985

Relocation to phoney homelands
Separation of families I can't understand
Twenty three million can't vote 'cause they're black
We're stabbing our brothers and sisters in the back I'm gonna say

Out Government tell us "we're doing all we can"
Constructive engagement is The Quartet's plan
Meanwhile people are dying and giving up hope
This quiet diplomacy ain't nothing but a joke

This is (more or less) what Bono was singing on Stage 23 years ago as he belted out his passion for human rights under the Apartheid regime in South Africa.
Now he's older, Greyer and , presumably, very much wiser and he is faced with a more modern dilemna. Is he going to play Sun City this time around. This time around Sun City is in fact the Holy City, or as Palestinians know it, Apartheid Jerusalem.

The following is an open letter from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel to musician and activist Bono, issued on 22 February:

Activists to Bono: Don't honor Israel!

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9330.shtml

From the article: "We strongly urge you to uphold the values of freedom, equality and just peace for all by rejecting the invitation to attend a conference in Israel celebrating that country's contribution to science and scholarship. Israel is not a member in good standing of the global community of scientists and scholars, and cannot be honored as such. After all, "it's not about charity, it's about justice."