Update

Sam Smith, Please Join Palestinians in Our Struggle for Justice and Equality

The Brit and Grammy award winning artist is scheduled to perform at the Summer in the City Festival in apartheid Tel Aviv on May 31. Palestinians are calling on them to withdraw.

 

As Palestinians struggling for our rights under the violent oppression of Israeli apartheid, the constant fight to simply exist and be who we are weighs heavily on us. But we won’t give up.  Artists like you have stood in the face of hateful discrimination, empowering many worldwide.

We hope that you will keep inspiring those struggling against all forms of racism and discrimination by canceling your performance in apartheid Israel until we, as Palestinians, are free to be who we are, until we can enjoy freedom, justice and equal rights.

As part of our liberation struggle, we, the widest coalition of Palestinian civil society organizations and mass movements, including cultural, feminist, queer and trans, and youth groups, are calling on international artists not to perform in apartheid Israel until our fundamental rights are respected. 

Our call is even more pressing today, as we face the unhinged violence of Israel’s most far-right, racist, fundamentalist, trans and homophobic government ever.

As just one example, a government minister has called for a Palestinian town to be “wiped out” just days after extremist government-supported militias had set it ablaze. He also proudly stated he is a “fascist homophobe.”

The power is in the hands of artists like you to refuse to associate with or otherwise artwash an unjust system. It’s what artists did in response to calls from Black South Africans living under their country’s apartheid regime and to today’s calls not to perform in US states over anti- queer and trans policies.

We are asking you to use this power by respecting our call for all participating artists to withdraw from the Summer in the City festival in apartheid Tel Aviv.

No matter your intentions, participating in the festival will only provide Israel with the artistic cover it needs to continue its rampant attacks on Palestinian life.

Like oppressed communities throughout history, we have elaborated a way for people of conscience around the world to stand together with us in our struggle. And so many have.

You would be joining thousands of artists, including more than 200 queer and trans filmmakers, who have pledged to respect our nonviolent picket line, to do no harm to our decades-old struggle for freedom.

Please cancel your performance in apartheid Israel. 


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