#BDSfail: Israel Philharmonic to play London
The Israel Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta (pictured) will play in Prince Albert Hall in London on Thursday night, despite efforts by terror supporters to prevent the concert from taking place. Since July, activists have been pressuring organizers to cancel the concert. They told organizers that the IPO is, according to one activist, “a pillar of the Israeli state system and of its cultural propaganda campaign” and “complicit in whitewashing Israel’s persistent violations of international law and human rights.”There's more - read the whole thing. Unfortunately, it sounds like there may be as many demonstrators - on both sides - outside the hall as inside. Hopefully, at least they won't play Wagner tonight.
Leading the campaign is London School of Economics Prof. Jonathan Rosenhead, chairman of British Committee for Universities for Palestine, a group leading the call for a blanket boycott of Israel. He wrote to Roger Wright, director of the Proms, on July 31 telling him to cancel the concert.
“By inviting the IPO, a pillar of the Israeli state system and of its cultural propaganda campaign, you provide the Israeli government, perpetrator of the Cast Lead invasion of Gaza and of so many other violations of international law and of human rights, with the support that they crave. Cancel the concert!” he said.
“For years now the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been promoting ‘Brand Israel,’ a deliberate PR campaign to divert people’s gaze from what they are doing to Palestinians.
The idea is to craft a new image by focusing on Israel’s cultural and scientific achievements,” the LSE Emeritus Professor of Operational Research added.
It followed a campaign led by PACBI (Palestinian Campaign for Academic-Cultural Boycott of Israel) who wrote to the Proms’ director on July 18 calling on him to withdraw the invitation to the IPO. In the letter they stated that “its services to the Israeli army dates back to the ethnic cleansing of the Nakba in 1948 and the occupations of 1967, and continuing up to the present day.”
The calls have been firmly rejected by the Proms organizers.
Labels: BDS, Israel Philharmonic, Prince Albert Hall, Zubin Mehta
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:17 PM
2 Comments:
#BDSfail? Hardly!
The concert was taken off air, after it the protesters disrupted it.
Anti-Israel protests disrupt BBC Proms concert
Protesters have disrupted Thursday night's BBC Proms concert by the Israel Philharmonic at the Royal Albert Hall.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14756736
The soloist, Gil Shaham, was about to play Bruch's violin concerto conducted by Zubin Mehta when some people in the audience began booing and shouting.
BBC Radio 3 interrupted its live broadcast before returning later.
Earlier, London's Evening Standard newspaper reported that the audience would have their bags searched to try to weed out political protesters.
The BBC Proms Team tweeted: "We're sorry that the concert was taken off air following hall disturbance. Glad both pieces were heard by the audience in the RAH."
The performance was interrupted at about 19:45 BST and coverage was cut off again an hour later after more protests.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign had urged people to boycott the concert and called on the BBC to cancel the event.
Proud of preventing a symphony performance? OMG. Well, the main thing is the Brits, etc. need to just enforce their laws. Arrest these disrupters and put them in jail. Otherwise, who on earth will travel to London for their lovely cultural activities when something like THIS happens. Primative. Lowlife. Ugh.
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