Israel Matzav

BDS fail in Brighton (England)

From today's Brighton Argus:

Double protests outside Dome over Israeli dance performance

A large group of pro-israel supporters gatecrashed a planned protest outside the Brighton Dome last night. Pro-Palestinian campaigners had arranged to picket the performance of controversial dance group the Batsheva ensemble. But unknown to them, their opposite numbers had arranged a counter-demo, outnumbering the original protest. Ann Hallam from the Brighton Palestine Solidarity group said "We are boycotting the group's performance because they are part of Brand Israel.

They are a state-funded group which is sent around the world to portray Israel as a cultured and vibrant place while ignoring the atrocities and persecution of the Palestinians."

And 60-70 pro-Israel supporters outshouted the 40-50 strong opposed as a line of police officers watched.

The dance group was originally set for two dates but Dome bosses pulled the second event in order to improve security. Evan Sorokin from the Sussex Jewish Representative Council said "whatever the rights and wrongs, politics should not interfere with art"

Labels: BDS, Israeli culture, United Kingdom

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:11 AM