Palestinians are being attacked and killed with impunity by Israeli soldiers and armed Israeli civilians who have been roaming the streets of Jerusalem, Lydda, Haifa, Jaffa and other cities chanting, “Death to Arabs.” Several lynchings of unarmed and unprotected Palestinians have already taken place in the last two weeks. Families in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah continue to face ethnic cleansing and displacement from their homes. These acts of murder, intimidation, and violent dispossession are protected, if not actively encouraged, by the Israeli government and police.
This May, the Israeli government committed yet another massacre in Gaza by indiscriminately and relentlessly bombing Palestinians in their homes, offices, hospitals and on the street. The bombing of Gaza is part of an intentional and recursive pattern where entire families are killed and local infrastructure is destroyed. This serves to exacerbate conditions that are already unliveable in one of the most densely populated places on earth, which, despite the temporary ceasefire, remains under military siege. Gaza is not a separate country: we are one people, forcibly separated by the architecture of the Israeli state.
To frame this as a war between two equal sides is false and misleading. Israel is the colonizing power. Palestine is colonized. This is not a conflict: this is apartheid.
In the face of the increased mortal danger of the past two weeks, Palestinians are uniting once again. In Palestine and across the world, vast numbers are taking to the streets, organizing on social media, defending their homes, protecting each other, and demanding an end to ethnic cleansing, apartheid, discrimination and dispossession. Our communities have been systematically denied their right of return and forcibly fragmented and erased since An-Nakba, the dawn of Israeli settler colonial rule in 1948, and this recent coming together has given us some much-needed confidence amid the rage and grief of the past two weeks. We are starting to feel, in spite of all that is happening, in spite of years of dehumanization, some hope.
Finally, the world has started calling the Israeli system by its name. Earlier this year the Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem followed the example set by decades of Palestinian intellectual and legal advocacy work in demonstrating that there is no separation between the Israeli state and its military occupation: the two form a single apartheid system. Human Rights Watch, in turn, published a thorough report accusing Israel of “crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution.”
We, the undersigned Palestinian artists, writers and our listed allies in the arts ask you to join us. Please don’t let this moment pass. If Palestinian voices are silenced again, it may take generations for another chance for freedom and justice to arise. We ask you to join us now, at this critical juncture, and show your support for Palestinian liberation.
We call for an immediate and unconditional cessation of Israeli violence against Palestinians. We call for an end to the support provided by global powers to Israel and its military; especially the United States, which now provides Israel $3.8 billion annually without condition. We ask all people of conscience to exercise their agency to help dismantle the apartheid regime of our time. We ask governments that are enabling this crime against humanity to apply sanctions, to mobilize levers of international accountability, and to cut trade, economic and cultural relations. We call on activists, and especially our peers in the arts, to exercise their agency within their institutions and localities to support the Palestinian struggle for decolonization to the best of their ability. Israeli apartheid is sustained by international complicity, it is our collective responsibility to redress this harm.
We have seen how governments in Europe and beyond recently have instated policies of open censorship, and fostered a culture of self-censorship, towards Palestinian solidarity. Conflating legitimate criticism of the State of Israel and its policies towards Palestinians with antisemitism is cynical. Racism, including antisemitism, and all forms of hate, are heinous and not welcome in the Palestinian struggle. It is time to stand up to these tactics of silencing and overcome them. Millions of people around the world see in Palestinians a microcosm of their own oppression and hopes, and allies such as Black Lives Matter and Jewish Voice for Peace, along with indigenous rights, feminist and queer activists, among many others, are increasingly vocal in their support.
We ask you to be brave. We ask you to come forward, speak up and take a clear public stand against this ongoing injustice in Palestine.
Apartheid must be dismantled. No one is free until we are all free.
SIGNATORIES
Abdelfattah Abusrour
Abdul Rahman Katanani
Abid Abdi
Adam Bakri
Adam Haj Yehia
Adila Laïdi-Hanieh
Ahlam Shibli
Aiman Halabi
Aiman Halabi
Aissa Deebi
Al Nather
Ala Hlehel
Alaa Abu Asad
Alexandra Sophia Handal
Ali As’ad
Ali Mawasi
Ali Suliman
Alia Al-Sabi
Aline Khoury
Amani Yaqob
Ameen Nayfeh
Amer Shomali
Amin Husain
Amira Asad
Amira Diab
Annemarie Jacir
Anton Shammas
Arab Nasser
Aser El Saqqa
Ayed Arafeh
Ayreen Anastas
Basel Abbas
Bashar Alhroub
Bashar Murkus
Basma Alsharif
Bekriah Saeb
Benji Boyadgian
Bint7alal
Bisan Abu Eisheh
Carol Sansour
Cherien Dabis
Clara Khoury
Dania Majid
Denes Assad
Dervis Zaim
Dima Srouji
Dina Mimi
Dîna Shuhaiber
Elia Suleiman
Elias Anastas
Elias Wakeem
Eman Haram
Emily Jacir
Essa Grayeb
Fady Joudah
Farah Nabulsi
Farah Saleh
Faraj Suleiman
Fawz Kabra
George Abraham
George Matar
Hala Alyan
Hamada Attallah
Hamza Badran
Hani Zurob
Hannah Khalil
Hany Abu-Assad
Hassan Daraghmeh
Hatim Kanaaneh
Hiam Abbass
Huzama Habayeb
Ibrahim Jawabreh
Ibrahim Jawabreh
Ibrahim Nasrallah
Ibtisam Azem
Imad Mitwalli
Inas Halabi
Ismail Khalidi
Issa Freij
Issam Rishmawi
Jack Persekian
Jackie Salloum
Jehan Bseiso
Jinan Coulter
Jumana Emil Abboud
Jumana Manna
Juna Suleiman
Kaleem Hawa
Kamal Aljafari
Kamilya Jubran
Karim Kattan
Khulood Basel
Koo Abuali
Lama Suleiman
Lamia Abukhadra
Lara Khaldi
Larissa Sansour
Layan AsSayed
Layan Attari
Le Trio Joubran
Leila Peinado
Leila Sansour
Lena Khalaf Tuffaha
Lena Mansour
Lila Abu Lughod
Loay Qasem
Ma’an Abu Taleb
Mahdi Baraghithi
Mahdi Fleifel
Mahdi Sabbagh
Mahmoud Shqeir
Mai Masri
Maisa Abd Elhadi
Majd Abdel Hamid
Majd Al-Shihabi
Makimakkuk
Maliha Al Tabari
Manal Mahamid
Mariam Tamari
Mary Jirmanus Saba
May Odeh
Maysaloun Hamoud
Micheal Atallah
Mirna Bamieh
Mohamed Najem
Mohammed (Siko) Tatour
Mohammed Alhaj
Mohammed El-Kurd
Mohammed Harb
Mohammed Joha
Mohanad Yaqoubi
Mona Benyamin
Mona Hatoum
Mona Tamari
Mothanna Hussein
Muhammad Jabali
Muna Basha
Muqata’a
Nabil Anani
Nadine Naous
Nadine Nashef
Naif Shaqqur
Najwa Najjar
Naomi Shihab Nye
Nardeen Srouji
Nathalie Handal
Nerian Keywan
Nicola Zreineh
Nida Sinnokrot
Nisreen Najjar
Noor Abed
Noor Abuarafeh
Nora Akawi
Nour Bishouty
Noura Erakat
Ola Alsheikh
Omar Al-Qattan
Omar El-Khairy
Omar Offendum
Omarivs I. F. Dæ.
Oraib Toukan
Ossama Bawardi
Qais Assali
Rabab Haj Yahya
Rabie Salfeti
Radi Shehadeh
Raed Andoni
Rafeef Ziadah
Raja Shehadeh
Raji Bathish
Ramzi Aburedwan
Rana Anani
Rana Bishara
Randa Jarrar
Raouf Haj Yahya
Rashed A. Deiri
Rashid Abed Al Hamid
Rawan Sharaf
Raya Manna
Razan al-Salah
Reem Fadda
Reem Kelani
Reem Shadid
Reem Shilleh
Rehab Nazzal
Remi Kanazi
Rima Essa
Rosalind Nashashibi
Ruanne Abou-Rahme
Ruba Salameh
Ruba Shamshoum
Saeed Taji Farouky
Sahar Mustafah
Sahar Qawasmi
Saleem Haddad
Saleh Bakri
Salim Abu Jabal
Salma Tuqan
Salman Abu Sitta
Salwa Mikdadi
Sama Alshaibi
Sama’ Abdulhadi
Sama’an Ashrawi
Samah Hijawi
Samar Khalil
Sami Khatib
Samir Eskanda
Samir Harb
Sandi Hillal
Sara M. Saleh
Selma Dabbagh
Shabjdeed
Shada Safadi
Shadi Habiballah
Shadi Rohana
Shayman Nader
Shuruq Harb
Simon Shaheen
Suad Amiry
Suha Araj
Suha Shoman
Suhad Babaa
Suhail Canaan
Suhail Matar
Susan Abulhawa
Susan Muaddi Darraj
Taghreed Najjar
Tamara Naser
Tarik Kiswanson
Tarzan Nasser
Tawfik Barhom
Taysir Batniji
Uday Jubeh
Ula Tabari
Umayya Abu-Hanna
Vera Tamari
Vivien Sansour
Wael Tarabieh
Walid Al Wawi
Waseem Alzer
Yara Saqfalhait
Yasmin Fedda
Yasmine Haj
Yazan Ashqar
Yazan Khalili
Yousef Abedrabbo
Yousef Anastas
Youssef abu Wardeh
Yumna Marwan
Zeina Azzam
Zeina Durra
Zena Agha
Ziad Bakri
Ziad Yousef Hajali
SUPPORTED BY
A.K. Burns
Adam Szymczyk
Ade Darmawan
Adele Free Pham
Adrian Lahoud
agnès b.
Ahdaf Soueif
Ahmad Swaid
Aja Monet
Akram Zaatari
AL Kennedy
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alessandro Petti
Alex Rivera
Alexander Siddig
Alfreda Benge
Alfredo Jaar
Algiers
Ali T. As’ad
Alia Shawkat
Alia Trabucco Zerán
Amal Issa
Amalia Ulman
Amandine Gay
Amar Kanwar
Amin Matalqa
Amir Amirani
Ammar Mnla Hasan
Andrew Ross
Angel Nevarez
Angela Davis
Angela Melitopoulos
Angelique Tran Van Sang
Anisia Uzeyman
Ann Ball
Anna Della Subin
Anne Carson
Anne Waldman
Annie Baker
Annie Ernaux
Anthony Anaxagorou
Anthony Downey
Anya Rous
Ari Marcopoulos
Ariella Aïsha Azoulay
Asif Kapadia
Astra Taylor
Bahar Noorizadeh
Bao Nguyen
Beldina Odenyo
Belly
Ben Eastham
Ben Ehrenreich
Ben Frost
Ben Lerner
Benjamin Krusling
Benjamin Moser
Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung
Boots Riley
Brad Fox
Brandt Andersen
Brian Cox
Brian Eno
Brian Kuan Wood
Brian Rigney Hubbard
Brigid Keenan
Bronagh Gallagher
Bruce Robbins
Carla Gutierrez
Carol McNicol
Carter Burwell
Cat Villiers
Catalina Mena
Cecilia Vicuna
Charlotte Sheedy
Chase Twichell
Chen Chen
Cheryl Strayed
Chiké Frankie Edozien
China Miéville
Chipo Chung
Chris White
Chrisoula Lionis
Christina B. Hanhardt
Christine Tohme
Chto Delat group
Claire Messud
Claire-Louise Bennett
Clare Needham
Coco Fusco
Cole Swensen
Colum McCann
Conor Bracken
Cornelia Parker
Cypress Hill
Dan Fox
Danae Stratou
Daniel G Andújar
Danielle Arbid
Danzy Senna
David Field
David Osit
David Palumbo-Liu
Deborah Eisenberg
Deborah Levy
Declan Long
Devin Kenny
Dhafer L’Abidine
Diamela Eltit
Diane Seuss
Diego Ajuz
Dionne Brand
Donal O’Kelly
Dora Bouchoucha
Dread Scott
Duncan Campbell
E-Jay Randolph
Ece Temelkuran
Ed Atkins
Ed Pavlić
Eileen Myles
Elias Khoury
Elias Sanbar
Eline van der Vlist
Eliot Weinberger
Ellen McDougall
Ellen Patterson
Elvia Wilk
Emiliana Cruz
Emily Ling Williams
Emory Douglas
Emory Douglas
Eric Baudelaire
Es Devlin
Esther Freud
Esther Woolfson
Eve Ewing
View full list here.
