The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) is proud to announce that our ‘Irish Artists’ Pledge to Boycott Israel’ has just passed the 2,500 signatory mark, a hugely significant milestone in support for the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement. After reaching 1,500 signatories in 2023, more than 1,000 cultural workers have since added their names over the past three years .
See the full list and sign yourself at https://www.ipsc.ie/pledge
The Irish artists’ pledge was launched in 2010 , initiated by composer and IPSC co-founder Raymond Deane. Initially signed by over 140 Irish creative and performing artists, whereby they undertake to boycott the Israeli state under present circumstances, the pledge now has more than 2,500 signatories, among them Irish cultural legends like Fontaines D.C., Kneecap, Stephen Rea, Sinéad Cusack, Donal Lunny, Andy Irvine, CMAT, Damien Dempsey, Sharon Shannon, Robert Ballagh, Mary Black, Kíla, Kevin Barry, Sally Rooney, Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Marian Keyes, Steve Wickham, Derbhle Crotty, Paul Duane, Aideen Barry and Eugene O’Hare.
This landmark was reached at a time when numerous Irish acts are making headlines internationally after pulling out of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Loop’ tour follow Sheeran’s dumping of Macklemore from the show following anti-genocide comments by the Irish-American rapper. These included Irish artists Beoga and Aaron Rowe, Danish-Irish singer Lukas Graham, and Irish-American singer Finneas. Irish acts Biird and Amble, who had played on previous legs of the tour, also issued statements in support of Palestine showing the mainstreaming of the Palestinian call for a cultural boycott of genocidal apartheid Israel.
IPSC Chairperson and Cultural Liaison, Zoë Lawlor, said: “We are extremely proud to have so many artists sign up to our pledge; it is a testament to the unbreakable bonds of solidarity between the people of Ireland and Palestine. Reaching 2,500 signatories is a huge landmark in Irish solidarity with Palestine and a serious statement in support of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and equality. As the indigenous Palestinian people continue to endure Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and their 78th year of dispossession, ethnic cleansing, apartheid and enforced exile, all while western governments fail to sanction Israel, they need the solidarity of people of conscience – and this pledge plays a major part in that.”
Ms Lawlor continued, “Irish artists continue to show their support for the Palestinian people at a global level, and it is both moving and heartening to see such empathy and shared humanity. And we know that Palestinians take heart every time an artist speaks out for Palestine.”
About the pledge
The Pledge – which commits signatories to refrain from performing in the apartheid state of Israel – was launched by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) in August 2010. Modelled on the successful cultural boycott of Apartheid South Africa, it has been called “a ground-breaking initiative” by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) National Committee in Palestine, the leadership of the global BDS movement for Palestinian freedom.
The Pledge reads as follows:
“In response to the call from Palestinian civil society for a cultural boycott of Israel, we pledge not to avail of any invitation to perform or exhibit in Israel, nor to accept any funding from any institution linked to the government of Israel, until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.”
The 2,522 signatories include actors, writers, poets, painters, sculptors, film-makers, dancers, architects, composers, designers, musicians and others, including many members of Ireland’s state-sponsored academy of artists Aosdána and range from some of Ireland’s most internationally known figures to artists starting out on their careers.
The Irish pledge was the first such nationally organised cultural boycott of Israel, and was followed by similar successful initiatives in Switzerland, South Africa, Britain and elsewhere.
Fatin Al Tamimi, Vice-Chairperson of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said: “As Palestinians struggle to deal with Israel’s oppressive and worsening genocidal apartheid regime, it can be difficult to find hope in my homeland right now.
“However, the fact that over one 2,500 artists in Ireland are willing to stand in solidarity with our struggle by refusing to help the genocidal apartheid state of Israel culturally whitewash its crimes against my people, is a huge ray of hope, and makes me incredibly proud of my adoptive homeland. I thank each one of the signatories, and I ask every other Irish artist to sign up to boycott Israel until we Palestinians enjoy our freedom, justice and equality.”
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2,500 Irish artists sign Irish Artists’ Pledge to Boycott Israel!
Aggregated summary from an independent source. Read the original at IPSC.