Boycott the Israel Ballet February 23rd

In 2006, the Israeli Foreign Ministry launched the “Brand Israel” campaign “to show Israel’s prettier face” abroad, diverting global attention from the Palestinians. This campaign includes the Israel Ballet, described by the Israeli Consulate in New York as a “cultural representative of the State of Israel.” On Tuesday, February 23rd, the Israel Ballet will show the University at Buffalo the peaceful, pretty, Western face of Israel. But instead, we should be seeing the growing list of UN reports condemning Israel for human rights violations in the occupied territories and the systemic discrimination of the twenty percent Arab population in Israel.

With twenty percent of its citizens of Palestinian Arab descent, Israel claims to be a multi-racial democracy. Yet not a single Israel Ballet dancer, not a single member of its staff or directors, is Palestinian. It does not represent the twenty percent of Israelis who attend separate schools, receive less funding for education, and face discrimination in employment, in property purchases, in language, and in law. And it certainly does not represent the 1.5 million Palestinians who suffer intolerable conditions in Gaza, where 80% live off of UN food aid and over 40% are unemployed.

In January 2009, Israel Ballet founder Berta Yampolsky said, “Luckily, right now we don’t have to worry about war: despite our problems, this is a safe place; there’s no crime, and you don’t have to be afraid at night.” I wish I could say the same thing to the Palestinian child blinded earlier that month by white phosphorus shells Israel launched at his UN School, or the other 1417 residents of Gaza killed during Israel’s widely-criticized “Operation Cast Lead”: 1181 of them civilians, 313 of them children.

People of conscience around the world have endorsed a Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions to be applied against Israel to end its discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel, to end its apartheid practices, to withdraw fully from all lands conquered in 1967, and to restore the rights of Palestinian refugees everywhere to either return to their homes or receive just compensation. In recognition of this campaign of non-violent action against Brand Israel’s state propaganda offensive, UB Students for Justice in Palestine calls on the university community to boycott the Israeli Ballet next Tuesday evening.

The Israel Ballet will perform at 8pm in the Center for the Arts, UB North Campus. Please email ubsjp48@gmail.com or call 518-364-2012 if you are interested in joining.

Action Alert: Demonstration next Wednesday the 9th End the Siege on Gaza!

This coming Wednesday, UB SJP will be hosting an on-campus protest of the ongoing siege of Gaza. The protest will be at noon in Founders plaza right outside Capen hall.

Our reasons for protest are below:

The Israeli army has besieged the tiny coastal strip of Gaza for 26 months now, beginning July of 2007. UBSJP would like to help the International community force Israel to end the siege. As citizens of the United States, we have the most say. The US army supplied Israel with many of the arms used in the conflict, and with much of the money. In one year, the United States gives Israel more aid money than it does all of Africa, read ALL OF AFRICA! That is to the tune of 3 billion dollars. In addition, the US army has special deals with the Israeli defense forces and is given billions of dollars in government-funded loans approved by congress. We want to stop this funding until Israel has ended its siege on Gaza.

The Siege has carried on for 26 months, beginning in July of 2007. In January of 2009, the Israeli army began a three-week Military campaign entitled “Operation Cast Lead.” The figures below are from that attack.

Palestinians killed: 1417, 926 civilians of which over 400 were children.
Palestinians injured: 5,303
Israelis killed: 13
Israelis wounded: 518
Gazans displaced: over 50, 800
2 billion worth of damage to Gaza
4000 homes destroyed
400,000 left without running water
80 government buildings hit

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Israeli human rights group B’tselem, United Nations. These organizations have accused Israel of the following illegal actions:

Using Human Shields
Collective punishment
Near Starvation
Use of White Phosphorous in a densely populated area
Bombing of Red Crescent trucks
Killing of non-combatants and minors
Bombing of schools
Bombing of hospitals
Prohibiting access to medical care
Restricting movement
Lack of proportionality
Destruction of homes and property
Denial of emergency relief and humanitarian aid to the strip

The Israeli army has continued to besiege Gaza since the January offensive. Palestinians have not been able to leave, rebuild their homes, or restart their lives. They are forced to rely on smuggling tunnels under the Egyptian border. Please come out to the protest and help stop this humanitarian catastrophe!