Tell BAM: There is no ART in APARTHEID. Boycott Batsheva!

Press Release

Anti-Apartheid Dance and Songs Meet Israel's Batsheva Dance Company in Protest at Brooklyn Academy of Music

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 13, 2014, New York, NY - On busy Lafayette Avenue outside Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), 80 New Yorkers gathered last night to dance and sing in protest of Batsheva Dance Company's performances in BAM's 2014 Next Wave Festival (photos). Batsheva's appearance is 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 demonstration was organized by Adalah-NY and 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.

Read more >>

Press Coverage

Hyperallergic

50 Protest Batsheva Dance Company Opening at BAM

Abstract: 

Around 50 members of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement gathered at a rally yesterday in response to the premiere performance of Batsheva Dance Company’s four-day run of Sadeh21. Outside the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), signs and slogans denounced the Israeli Foreign Ministry-funded troupe’s participation in a campaign called “Brand Israel,” which, according to literature distributed by the organizers, seeks “to distract from the facts of Israel’s ongoing occupation and colonization of Palestinian land.”

More Info >>>

Press Coverage

Haaretz

Batsheva Dance Company greeted with dabke protest in New York

Abstract: 

Audience members arriving at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Wednesday night to see Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company were treated to an exuberant preshow performance in which dance protested dance. Approximately 60 protesters crowded inside an enclosure of police barricades on the sidewalk: some waved Palestinian flags, some brandished signs proclaiming “Don’t dance around apartheid,” while others danced the dabke, a traditional Arabic communal dance.

More Info >>>

Join us to protest the Batsheva Dance Company's performance on Wednesday, November 12 in front of the Brooklyn Academy of Music. There will be dance performances and a free dabke class beginning at 6:30 to kick off the demonstration. While Batsheva dances for Israeli apartheid, we dance for Palestinian Freedom!

Batsheva is funded in part by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Culture and Sports. The 'Brand Israel' campaign cannot whitewash its occupation, colonization, and apartheid system.

Help us show BAM, Batsheva and their audience that it's time to dance against apartheid - not around it! RSVP on Facebook and spread the word!

Endorsers: BDS Arts Coalition; Brooklyn College SJP; Brooklyn For Peace; City College of New York SJP; CODEPINK NYC; College of Staten Island SJP; Columbia SJP; Drew University SJP; International Socialist Organization NYC; Jews Say No!; Malcolm X Grassroots Movement; NYC Solidarity with Palestine; WESPAC Foundation; Women in Black, Union Square; Ya-Ya Network

Event Location: 

Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)
30 Lafayette Ave
Brooklyn , NY

Event Date: 

Wednesday, November 12, 2014 - 6:30pm to 8:00pm

Tags: 

Our Work Sections: 

Content Type: 

Public Event

Shortlink: 

https://j.mp/3nqXIee