Edward Said National Conservatory of Music (Ahdaf Soueif for PalFest)
Massive Attack, Steve Coogan, Peter Gabriel, Maxine Peake, Philip Pullman and Benjamin Zephaniah are among 60+ cultural figures to put their names to an open letter condemning attacks on key Palestinian cultural centres.
The letter says the attacks are ‘part of a well-documented campaign of harassment and intimidation, arrests, home demolitions and forced evictions’ by the Israeli government.
Brian Eno says: ‘These raids … seem designed to break the morale of the Palestinian people, to deny them the last thing that they actually own: their culture’
The artists call for ‘targeted and lawful sanctions’ against Israel.
Signatories to the letter include:
- Musicians Massive Attack, Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Matthew Herbert, Jonathan Ofir, Jocelyn Pook, Benjamin Zephaniah
- Filmmakers, actors David Calder, Julie Christie, Steve Coogan, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Maxine Peake, Leila Sansour, Harriet Walter
- Writers Carmen Callil, William Dalrymple, Inua Ellams, A.L. Kennedy, Sabrina Mahfouz, Ruth Padel, Philip Pullman, Jacqueline Rose, Thomas Sleigh, Gillian Slovo, Ahdaf Soueif
- 2019 Turner Prize winning artists Lawrence Abu Hamdam and Tai Shani
In an open letter published today (copied below) more than sixty musicians, artists, writers and filmmakers say that the ransacking of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music (ESNCM), the Yabous Cultural Centre and the Shafaq Cultural Network in occupied East Jerusalem, and the arrest of their respective directors, ‘threaten to extinguish cultural life for thousands of artists, students and people in wider society’. (1)
The British Consulate in Jerusalem expressed its concern over the raids, via Twitter. (2) However, the artists say that expressions of concern are not enough.
The letter says that the raids are linked to Israel’s ongoing annexation of Palestinian land. It calls on the British government to take action to halt Israel’s latest round of aggression towards Palestinians . The signatories say: ‘Palestinian civil society organisations are calling for ‘targeted and lawful sanctions’, that relate to trade, arms sales and security co-operation. Britain should support them.’
Composer Jocelyn Pook, best known for scores for films such as Eyes Wide Shut, The Merchant of Venice and The Wife, said: ‘These raids strike a blow against music and a blow against education. No government which cared about culture would inflict them. No person who cares about culture should tolerate them.’
Pioneering musician Brian Eno argued: ‘These raids are part of a new series of assaults on Palestinian lives and livelihoods and seem designed to break the morale of the Palestinian people, to deny them the last thing that they actually own: their culture. It is essential that our government ends its silence, condemns Israeli actions and takes practical steps to stop the raids.’
Ahdaf Soueif, novelist and founder of the Palestinial Festival of Literature said: ‘Israel is using the familiar tactics of an authoritarian state – night-time raids, trumped-up charges, arbitrary arrests – to kill the cultural institutions that Palestinians have created. Western governments have the power to stop this intolerable use of force. They should use it.’
The British Council said on social media that the Council is ‘a long standing partner’ of all three cultural centres, which support ‘music and culture for young people’, and preserve ‘Palestinian cultural identity & community in Jerusalem’. (3)
Composer Suhail Khoury, the director of the National Conservatory of Music, who was arrested during the raids, issued a statement urging friends of Palestinian cultural institutions in Jerusalem to ‘demand the Israeli authorities lift their foot off our necks so that we can sing in freedom’. (4)
NOTES
1. The open letter in full:
On 22 July in occupied East Jerusalem Israeli police raided the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music (ESNCM) and the Yabous Cultural Centre, two of the most important cultural centres in Palestine. The buildings were ransacked and their directors arrested. SHAFAQ, the network which links the major Palestinian arts institutions in East Jerusalem, also saw its director arrested, after his home was invaded by police.
These attacks threaten to extinguish cultural life for thousands of artists, students and people in wider society. They are part of a well-documented
campaign of harassment and intimidation, arrests, home demolitions and forced evictions of indigenous Palestinians by the Israeli government.This campaign is linked to Israel’s plans to annex large areas of Palestinian territory, which UN human rights experts have described as a ‘vision for a 21st century apartheid’.
We note that the British Consulate General in Jerusalem has expressed its ‘concern’ about the raids. It must go further than this. Israel’s policies must be brought to a halt.
We call on the British government to condemn the raids and to take action to stop Israel’s ongoing annexation. Palestinian civil society organisations are calling for ‘targeted and lawful sanctions’, that relate to trade, arms sales and security co-operation. Britain should support them.
Signed:
Full list of 60+ signatories:
Lawrence Abu Hamdam, artist
Nicholas Blincoe, writer
Victoria Brittain, playwright, journalist
David Calder, actor
Carmen Callil, publisher
Taghrid Choucair-Vizoso, producer, performance-maker
Julie Christie, actor
Steve Coogan, actor, comedian
Selma Dabbagh, writer
William Dalrymple, author
Andy De La Tour, actor
Tam Dean Burn, actor
Raymond Deane, composer, author
Robert Del Naja, Massive Attack
Laurence Dreyfus, musician
Thomas Eisner, violinist
Omar El Khairy, writer
Nancy Elan, violinist
Inua Ellams, poet, playwright
Brian Eno, musician
Kodwo Eshun, writer, filmmaker
Gareth Evans, writer, curator
Adam Foulds, writer
Peter Gabriel, musician
Judy Granville, musician
Trevor Griffiths, playwright
Rahila Gupta, playwright
Omar Robert Hamilton, writer
Rachel Holmes, writer
Tom Hammond, conductor
Matthew Herbert, musician
Gemma Jackson, production designer
Vanessa Jackson, artist
Brigid Keenan, writer
Peter Kennard, artist
A. L. Kennedy, writer
Hannah Khalil, playwright
Paul Laverty, screenwriter
Mike Leigh, screenwriter, director
Ken Loach, film director
Sabrina Mahfouz, playwright
Jamal Mahjoub, writer
Kika Markham, actor
Grant Marshall, Massive Attack
Pauline Melville, writer, actor
Roy Mowatt, violinist
Courttia Newland, writer
Jonathan Ofir, conductor, violinist
Nii A Parkes, writer
Ruth Padel, poet
Maxine Peake, actor
Joceyn Pook, composer
Phillip Pullman, author
Siobhan Redmond, actor
David Roger, production designer
Bruce Robbins, writer
Jacqueline Rose, writer
Leila Sansour, filmmaker
Tai Shani, artist
Thomas Sleigh, poet, writer
Gillian Slovo, writer
Ahdaf Soueif, writer
Sarah Streatfeild, violinist
Tom Suarez, violinist
Jacques Testard, publisher
Harriet Walter, actor
Hilary Westlake, performance director
Penny Woolcock, screenwriter, director
Benjamin Zephaniah, writer, dub poet
2. British Consulate in Jerusalem expresses ‘concern’
3. The British Council said the council are ‘a long standing partner’ of all three cultural centres, which support ‘music and culture for young people’, and preserve ‘Palestinian cultural identity & community in Jerusalem’.
4. Full statement by composer Suhail Khoury, director of the National Conservatory of Music, 29th July 2020
5. Joint statement by the boards of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music and the Yabous Cultural Centre, 28th July 2020
