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A number of international cultural workers and artists have upheld the Palestinian call for cultural boycott by refusing to play in Israel, voicing their support for cultural boycott, and calling on fellow artists to uphold the call.
Musicians Gil Scott-Heron, Carlos Santana, Elvis Costello, Cassandra Wilson, Cat Power, Thurston Moore, Marina Abad, Lauryn Hill, Shuggie Otis, Salif Keita, and Moddi have canceled performances in Israel.
Bands including The Pixies, Massive Attack, Faithless, Gorillaz Sound System, the Klaxons, and Primus have also canceled performances in Israel.
In 2006, British filmmaker Ken Loach declared his support for the cultural boycott in a personal statement. He has refused to take part in state-sponsored Israeli film festivals and in January 2010 urged other artists to uphold the boycott.
In late 2009, Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover, and director John Greyson, together with over 1,000 other cultural workers, supported the Toronto Declaration: “No celebration of occupation!” The declaration came in support of Greyson’s withdrawal from a film festival featuring a “spotlight on Tel-Aviv.”
In 2010, Hollywood actor Meg Ryan canceled plans to attend the Israeli Jerusalem Film Festival following Israel's raid on the Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla, the Mavi Marmara.
In June 2010, British author Ian Banks announces his decision to uphold cultural boycott of Israel.
In 2011, basketball legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar declined to screen his documentary film on racial segregation in basketball, "On the Shoulders of Giants," in Israel.
In June 2012, American author, poet, and activist Alice Walker declined an offer by the Israeli publishing firm Yediot Books to publish her book The Color Purple in Israel, stating, “It is my hope that the non-violent BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, of which I am part, will have enough of an impact on Israeli civilian society to change the situation.”
In November 2012, Stevie Wonder canceled a performance for the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces Gala.
In January 2013, American jazz/jazz fusion guitarist and pianist Stanley Jordan canceled his performance at the Israel Red Sea Jazz Festival.
In April 2013, award-winning American artist Raymond Pettibon tweeted his support for the cultural boycott of apartheid Israel.
In July 2013, award-winning film director Mira Nair boycotted the Haifa International Film Festival.
In May 2014, philosopher and activist Grace Lee Boggs and actor and activist Danny Glover denounced the inclusion of the film "American Revolutionary: the Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs" in a government-sponsored Israeli film festival.
In June 2014, over 100 artists and intellectuals, including Judith Butler, Lucy Lippard, Chantal Mouffe, Walid Raad, Martha Rosler, and Gayatri Spivak, signed a public letter calling on participants to withdraw from Creative Time’s traveling Living as Form exhibition due to its touring in Israel without the artists’ knowledge.
In July 2014, InCACBI called for the cancellation of Israeli film festival organized by Israeli consulate in Bangalore. Visual artist N Pushpamala began a Facebook campaign joined by filmmakers, and writers including U R Ananthamurthy, Anand Patwardhan, Saeed Mirza, Githa Hariharan, and K Satchidanandan, to cancel the film festival.
In July 2014, U.S. rapper Talib Kweli Greene canceled his participation in an Israeli music festival in solidarity with Palestinians.
In July 2014, Liz Lochhead, the Makar or National Poet of Scotland, announced that she was formally endorsing the academic and cultural boycott of Israel.
In July 2014, global hip-hop artists, including Don Martin of Norwegian hip-hop group Gatas Parlament, Peruvian-American rapper Immortal Technique, El Tipo Este of Cuban duo Obsesion, Parisian rapper Tonto Noiza, and Johannesburg-based Tumi Molekane released a video in support of the BDS movement with each artists rapping in their native tongue.
In July 2014, Sinead O’Connor announced her adherence to the call for cultural boycott of Israel.
In August 2014, the 11th EBS International Documentary Festival (EIDF) canceled its 'Israeli Documentary Collection’ and 'Conference on Israeli Documentaries,’ which led to the cancellation of the official sponsorship of the Israeli Embassy in South Korea.
In August 2014, 55 of 68 participating artists and collectives, supported by the curators of the exhibition, called on the São Paulo Bienal to refuse Israeli state funding.
In September 2014, over 640 Swiss artists demanded the Swiss Federal Council suspend military cooperation with Israel.
In September 2014, prominent writers and editors and hundreds of others, including Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Díaz, Elif Batuman, and music critic of New Yorker magazine Sasha Frere-Jones, signed a petition protesting Israeli sponsorship of a panel event at the Brooklyn Book Festival in New York.
In May 2015, Belgian Theater Group “CAMPO” canceled their participation in the Israel Festival.
In October 2015, Alain Platel, founder of les ballets C de la B, released an open letter asking for support for the cultural boycott.
Some artists who failed to cancel their performances have subsequently expressed regret for not upholding the boycott.
In 2011, Roger Waters, who had gone to Israel in 2006, made a public statement against the Israeli anti-boycott law. Waters has since become a staunch proponent, calling on fellow artists to cancel performances in Israel and uphold the cultural boycott including an open letter published in 2013.
In February 2011, folk music legend Pete Seeger officially endorsed BDS against Israel based on his refusal to be a part of "greenwashing" and "whitewashing" initiatives that use culture to "rebrand Israel.” Seeger's support of the cultural boycott movement came after his participation in an online environmental initiative that he later realized was part of a "greenwashing" initiative by the Israeli Arava Institute. As Seeger explained: “I appeared on that virtual rally because for many years I’ve felt that people should talk with people they disagree with. But it ended up looking like I supported the Jewish National Fund...Now that I know more, I support the BDS movement as much as I can.”
In August 2014, Anoushka Shankar, who had played in Israel the previous year, posted on Facebook “I can’t be silent. What is happening now is a crime against humanity, it is apartheid, it is genocide” in reference to Israel’s brutal attack on Gaza in the summer of 2014.
At the institutional level:
In August 2014, Bristol Encounters Film Festival refused funding from the Israeli Embassy.
In October 2015, the Palestinian Performing Arts Network, representing a large number of Palestinian cultural institutions, called on fellow cultural workers to support and endorse the PACBI call.
In November 2015, four Colombian film festivals announced their adherence to the cultural boycott of Israel.