The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel reports:
We are now pleased to announce that we have received confirmation from the Palestinian Prisoners‘ Club Society that they will not be hosting Leonard Cohen in Ramallah. A strong consensus has emerged among all parties concerned that Cohen is not welcome in Ramallah as long as he insists on performing in Tel Aviv, even though it had been claimed that Cohen would dedicate his concert in Palestine to the cause of Palestinian prisoners. Ramallah will not receive Cohen as long as he is intent on whitewashing Israel‘s colonial apartheid regime by performing in Israel.
PACBI has always rejected any attempt to "balance" concerts or other artistic events in Israel–conscious acts of complicity in Israel‘s violation of international law and human rights–with token events in the occupied Palestinian territory. Such attempts at "parity" not only immorally equate the oppressor with the oppressed, taking a neutral position on the oppression (thereby siding with the oppressor, as Desmond Tutu famously said); they also are an insult to the Palestinian people, as they assume that we are naive enough to accept such token shows of "solidarity" that are solely intended to cover up grave acts of collusion in whitewashing Israel‘s crimes. Those sincerely interested in defending Palestinian rights and taking a moral and courageous stance against the Israeli occupation and apartheid should not play Israel, period.
Related posts:
- Letter to Leonard Cohen from an Israeli peace activist
- ‘Leonard, don’t play Israel…’
- ‘Washington Post’ highlights statement that Leonard Cohen validates occupation
- 6 of 7 killed were civilians, says Palestinian human-rights group
- In Ramallah, Naomi Klein apologized to Palestinians for not joining cause earlier, saying ‘Nothing but cowardice’ stopped her
{ 17 comments }
This seems counterproductive to me. We shouldn't turn anyone away who can lend their name and talent to the liberation of Palestine. This strikes me as being rather, gulp, Zionist-like behaviour. That is, as long as Cohen is performing for the people of Tel Aviv, and not the military. Am I missing something? Is Tel Aviv outside the green line? At any rate, my perception may be slanted because I love Cohen's song "The Future".
i think it has to do with the level of commitment one has to seeing the liberation of palestine.. if cohen was to have only performed in ramallah it would have communicated a very public message from a pop icon that the imbalance between israel/palestine is so far out of sync he wants to make a public statement about it… cohen wasn't ready to make that kind of statement… i think that is fine for him to pass on the publicity, but it would have been more ballsy to take it up… eventually others will come forward to do just this, and it would be helpful if they were people like leonard cohen.
excellent news for palestinians. leonard cohen is dreary and dreadful.
Cohen takes the Witty position, superficially even-stevenesqe. And he gets dual career exposure to boot. He thinks he's crafty.
I think Cohen should be re-invited to Ramallah. Maximalist positions have always been counter productive to the Palestinian cause. It would be an unusual opportunity to bring a message of solidarity to a Palestinian city and rebuke of Israeli policy regarding Palestinians.
Disinviting Leonard Cohen is not the way to go. A boycott should be a response to injustice rather than hindering interaction among Jews and Arabs. Write directly to The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel pacbi@pacbi.org
who gives a shit. at least he performs in Tel aviv.
This seems like another missed opportunity. Leonard Cohen is a great artist and if he is willing to go to Ramallah and mention the Palestinian prisoners, this is one point for the Palestinians and their struggle. Imagne the headlines, "Leonard Cohen sings for the rights of Palestinian prisoners in Ramllah", you couldn't buy that even if you could afford it. The hawks on the Palestinian side need to get a little smarter and make use of these rare opportunities even for as little as they provide. Wake up guys, Israel wins thousands of these little propaganda wars while you try to win one big one, guess who's winning.
Anyone who performs in israel should be targeted. They should be terrorized into permanent seclusion and hermitage.
He WAS in seclusion and hermitage as a Buddhist monk, remember? But I believe his financial circumstances having changed, he decided to try for a few concerts. Too bad, I'd have paid to see him anywhere else than in Israel. Now, I'll just BDS him :)
I agree that Israel is the oppressor and Palestine the occupied and oppressed territory. But there is a cause beyond a one-sided partisanship for either side, and that is the peace and well-being of all the people involved: justice for Palestine, security for Israel, peace for the Middle East.
so called oppression is a mother isn't it so? but combined with aggression stupidity and self pity, that's a dark pit you can't climb out of. good luck
A decision to renounce communication, likely in the name of an integrated single-state no less. The suppression of art for political ends, is NOT progressive.
Absurd, spiteful, and clearly short-sighted. Your cause is not served in the slightest. Had Cohen performed, you could have been assured a week of international focus thanks to the controversy. Now, your petty boycott will consign you to media obscurity. Palestinians have never missed an opportunity to shoot themselves in the foot.
The headline implies that Leonard Cohen is making the choice not to play in Ramallah as part of a boycott, or in response to it. Not an accurate implication.
I think the IRS should prosecute Cohen for what I was told is criminal tax fraud and Phil Spector should persue the fact that he appears to have perjured himself in his grand jury. It would also be ethical if Cohen repaid me the millions he has stolen from me and come up for an explanation as to why I was illegally made a partner on one of his entities. The man, from everything I know of him, is a pathelogical liar, fraud, and a thief. Kelley Lynch philspectorandkelleylynch.ning.com http://odzerchenma3.blogspot.com/2009/06/kelley-c...
That's right – yet another one of Cohen's witty, carefully crafted comments. Calculated and superficial. He thinks he wrote the Bible actually. Kelley Lynch
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