Breaking: Architect Frank Gehry supports Israeli settlement boycott
World renowned architect Frank Gehry New York Times: A West Bank Enclave is on the Edge About JVP: Jewish Voice for Peace is the only national Jewish organization that provides a voice for Jews and allies who believe that peace in the Middle East will be achieved through justice and full equality for both Palestinians and Israelis. With offices in New York and California, 100,000 online activists, chapters across the country and an advisory board comprised of numerous prominent Jewish thinkers and artists, JVP supports nonviolent efforts here and in Israel-Palestine to end Israel’s Occupation, expand human and civil rights, and implement a US policy based on international law and democracy. JVP opposes anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, and anti-Arab bigotry and oppression and seeks an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem . Text of the artists’ statement: On August 27th, dozens of Israeli actors, directors, and playwrights made the brave decision not to perform in Ariel, one of the largest of the West Bank settlements, which by all standards of international law are clearly illegal. As American actors, directors, critics and playwrights, we salute our Israeli counterparts for their courageous decision. Most of us are involved in daily compromises with wrongful acts. When a group of people suddenly have the clarity of mind to see that the next compromise looming up before them is an unbearable one -- and when they somehow find the strength to refuse to cross that line -- we can't help but be overjoyed and inspired and grateful. It's thrilling to think that these Israeli theatre artists have refused to allow their work to be used to normalize a cruel occupation which they know to be wrong, which violates international law and which is impeding the hope for a just and lasting peace for Israelis an Palestinians alike. They've made a wonderful decision, and they deserve the respect of people everywhere who dream of justice. We stand with them. *Statement organizers and signatories represent a wide range of political opinions and perspectives, but have come together for the sole purpose of making a joint statement on this one critical issue.
**All identifications and affiliations are for identification purposes only and do not imply endorsements by any institutions
joins supporters of Israeli settlement boycott.
Legendary pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim also adds name: ground-breaking artists' boycott continues to attract strong Jewish support.
Full text of statement and signatories:
http://tinyurl.com/JVPArielCampaign
Fact sheet: http://tinyurl.com/JVPArielFacts
[New York, September 20, 2010] The international campaign to support the Israeli actors' refusal to play in the illegal settlement of Ariel picked up a pair of huge names when architect Frank Gehry and pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim signed on this week. Settlements are Jewish-only communities built on Palestinian land and are considered by many to be the main obstacle to peace.
Known for iconic buildings like the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Gehry is considered the “world's most influential architect” according to Vanity Fair Magazine. Daniel Barenboim is a legendary pianist and conductor who, along with the late Palestinian intellectual Edward Said, created the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which brings together young Jewish Israeli and Arab musicians.
Both Gehry and Barenboim, who are Jewish, signed a US/UK artist's statement in support of leading Israeli actors and writers who refused to normalize their own government's illegal settlements and who risked their livelihoods for their stance. The statement, organized by US peace group Jewish Voice for Peace, has already been signed by over 200 theater and film professionals representing some of the most respected and renowned artists in theater and film – including Oscar, Tony, Grammy and Pulitzer prize-winner Stephen Sondheim, Julianne Moore, film director Mira Nair, Sex and the City's Cynthia Nixon, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Tony Kushner, 21-time Tony winner Harold Prince , star of the film "Yentl," Mandy Patinkin, Fiddler on the Roof star and Cameri co-founder Theodore Bikel, Jennifer Tilly, Harry Potter's Miriam Margolyes, Ed Asner, Wallace Shawn, and Focus Films’ James Schamus among many others.
Earlier this year, Frank Gehry stepped down as an architect for the controversial Museum of Tolerance project in Jerusalem: many have criticized (http://ccrjustice.org/ourcases/current-cases/mamilla) the Simon Wiesenthal Center for building the museum on top of a Muslim cemetery.
Meanwhile, silence from groups in the United States that are quick to attack critics of Israeli policies shows how indefensible the settlement policy has become.
The support campaign's organizer, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), is a national membership organization dedicated to building a movement for a just peace based on human rights, equality, and international law for all the peoples of Israel and Palestine,
Cecilie Surasky, Jewish Voice for Peace Deputy Director said, “It is particularly critical for architects to speak out against the ongoing construction of Jewish-only communities on Palestinian land. Architects and planners are the key implementers of the Israeli policy of taking and brutally occupying Palestinian land in violation of international law. For Mr. Gehry to take such a moral stand once and for all ends the mythical firewall between architecture, policy, and human rights. We hope Israeli architects will be inspired to launch their own campaign to refuse to work in the settlements."
Coverage of Artists Support campaign
Forward: Why Some Jewish Stars Support Israeli Artistic Boycott
Jerusalem Post: US artists’ support for settlement boycott spreading fast
LA Times: Hollywood shows some support for Israeli actors' refusal to perform in West Bank settlement
Theodore Bikel Op-Ed in Huffington Post: Legitimizing an obstacle to peace.
Tony Kushner and Alisa Solomon in the Nation: An Unsettling Protest in Israel
Yale Daily News: Professors support Israeli artists’ boycott
AP: US artists support Israelis' settlement protest.
JTA: Artists fight over Israel: The sequel