What is artwashing?

(source South Africa BDS Coalition)

«In solidarity with the people of Palestine—who continue to suffer unimaginable violence at the hands of the government of Israel—UDP formally commits to the Palestinian international call for BDS and adheres to the guidelines of PACBI. » – Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, NY, December 21, 2023

«In solidarity with the people of Palestine—who continue to suffer unimaginable violence at the hands of the government of Israel—UDP formally commits to the Palestinian international call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) and adheres to the guidelines of the Palestinian Academic and Cultural of Israel (PACBI). […] We are joining many other poetry and arts organizations, and are grateful to those who have led the way. We denounce rising Islamophobia in the US. We denounce anti-Semitism. We denounce the false and dangerous conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. This is not a boycott of Israeli writers and artists; PACBI and BDS are boycotts of an apartheid state that are modeled off of the historic academic boycott in South Africa. We believe it is the responsibility of writers, artists, and publishers to imagine new, liberatory futures and we are committed to working with those who uphold this belief.»

In a tweet shared on Twitter, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) claimed that they are displaying a photo where the so-called "Tantura Massacre" took place in 1948, but a Holocaust expert proved it was actually a Nazi concentration camp in Germany. The photo showed tens or possibly hundreds of corpses in a black and white photo, before being buried in a mass grave.

The Palestinian Academy for Science & Technology calls on @EMBOto relocate workshops from apartheid Israel, including the one at the site of the Tantura massacre."EMBO has a moral obligation to end its complicity in whitewashing Israel’s crimes." https://t.co/UVfNJgCqEa pic.twitter.com/pOo1x49emD

palestinians thank artists boycotting apartheid israel-partnered pop kultur berlin

palestinians thank artists boycotting apartheid israel-partnered pop kultur berlin

At least four artists withdrew from the festival, joining fifteen others since 2017. Palestinians thank Lafawndah (and bandmate Trustfall), Alewya, Franky Gogo and Gigsta for withdrawing from @popkulturberlin, that is partnered with apartheid Israel #PK22 https://bdsmovement.net/news/boycott-pop-kultur-2022 * Four artists have withdrawn from Pop Kultur Berlin this year, in protest at its…

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🇵🇸 From BDS:

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), a founding member of the BDS movement, calls for the boycott of Eurovision 2024. We urge all participating broadcasters, national competitors, finalists, production crews, and viewers to boycott the contest following the refusal of the organisers, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), to ban genocidal Israel. Palestinians call on supporters to launch creative, strategic initiatives that can pressure broadcasters to withdraw, and appeal to all participants to refuse to be complicit in the EBU’s whitewash of apartheid Israel’s genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza. Venues and events organisers planning Eurovision screening parties should refuse to do so, and instead hold Apartheid-Free or Genocide-Free alternative Eurovision events, including teach-ins/workshops/panels about Israel’s cynical pinkwashing and artwashing.

BDS has now, as of today (2 Mar), officially called for a boycott of Eurovision 2024, and for organizers to launch initiatives to pressure broadcasters and participating artists to withdraw from the competition.

For more info, see the BDS alert.

It's also worth noting that the song Israel will be competing with this year is called 'October Rain' (yes, seriously).

BDS has called for an official boycott of Eurovision2024

Everyone...you know what to do

[ID 1: text on a black background reading: "Boycott Eurovision: Artwashing Israel's #GazaGenocide". The Eurovision logo is edited such that red barbed wire appears over the heart in the center.

ID 2: a tweet from "PACBI - BDS movement" @/PACBI reading:

We call for the boycott of #Eurovision2024". We urge all participating broadcasters, national competitors, finalists, production crews, and viewers to boycott the contest following the refusal of the organizers @/EBU_HQ to ban genocidal Israel. #BoycottEurovision2024

End ID.]

do you know where are the the best places or mosteffective to donate to help palestinians atm? like charities ect

In terms of direct aid it is better to give money directly to families in Ghazza than to a charity. Charities, governmental and nongovernmental organisations &c., are seldom able to use funds to distribute aid right now, as few trucks are getting through, and none to the north of Ghazza.

ETA on Charities in Ghazza:

Taawon Association (in partnership with the Bank of Palestine) are distributing hot meals in Ghazza.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is getting food parcels into Ghazza, though I can't find them sharing a more specific location anywhere. Donate here.

The Palestinian Children's Relief Fund (PCRF) is providing medicine, food, and water. Their website specifically mentions food relief in north, central, and south Ghazza, and water delivered to north and south Ghazza.

Direct aid to Ghazza:

Money given directly to families in Ghazza is used to help them cross the Rafah crossing into Egypt, and/or to purchase plane tickets and apply for visas so they have somewhere to go after arriving in Egypt.

Help Christians in Ghazza get visas to leave

Help Hala Abu Ramadan's family of six leave Ghazza (organized by Mohammed Samhouri, vouched for by @psychoticgerard)

Help Dr. Intimaa AbuHelou's family of 22 leave Ghazza (organized by professer Steve Tamari)

Help Shayma and her family of 16 leave Ghazza (organised by Fardowsa. You may remember a link to a paypal going around to help Shayma; however, paypal has frozen those funds)

Help Shaymaa's family of 13 leave Ghazza (organised by Shaymaa herself, who is in Canada)

Help Sanaa and her family of 5 leave Ghazza and establish themselves in Belgium (organised by Eyad M, vouched for by Motaz Azaiza)

Help sisters Duaa and Deena leave Ghazza and get medical treatment in Cairo (organised by Shereen Alhayek, @.littlestpersimmon's friend's acquaintance)

Help Ahmed (@90-ghost) and his family leave Ghazza via ko-fi, paypal, or gofundme (@unionfish is offering stickers and prints in exchange for donations)

Help a family of Ghazzan refugees in Egypt get medical care and relocate

Buy an e-sim for use in Ghazza

Interruption of arms sent to Israel:

Palestine Action targets arms manufacturers in the US and UK

Palestine Legal offers legal defense for those who get arrested &c. in the course of protest or sabotage on behalf of Palestine

If you have some barrier to donating or to buying e-sims yourself (someone looking through your transactions, no room on your phone for new apps, don't want to mess up the instructions, don't have time to keep up with what's being called for at the moment, literally whatever), I can buy e-sims and move funds on your behalf. My venmo is @gothhabiba; paypal paypal.me/Najia; squarecash $NajiaK; DM me for Zelle information. Feel free to leave a note about where you want it to go (specifically for e-sims; aid to people in Ghazza; &c.)

BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanctions)

You asked specifically about donations, but if you haven't looked into the boycotts being called for by the Palestinian Campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), I urge you to do so.

BDS chapters in your locality may be calling for their own boycotts, so look into that as well. Think creatively about how to minimise purchase of boycotted goods (e.g., getting your union to refuse to shelve Israeli groceries).

Monday strikes

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) has called for weekly strikes on Mondays. Talk to your union or coworkers about strikes or work stoppages on Mondays, if you can. At least avoid making any purchases (goods, recreation, entertainment, food, &c.) on Mondays.

re the palestinian bird thing: different anon here, idk what they meant but it’s worth noting that, in addition to political fuckery, that the campaign to remove the word “palestine” from the bird's name might have partially been an attempt to correct a bit of historical revisionism. the only reason that region of the world is commonly known as palestine today in the first place is because the roman empire renamed the area to “syria palaestina” after the roman-jewish wars. they had previously allowed the province to be called judea/judaea, as in jews and the jewish kingdoms that existed there before being conquered. and it wasn't until much later that the arabs now known as palestinians came to be. (disclaimer: I don't speak hebrew and can't be bothered to track down hebrew articles from a decade ago to translate by hand to fact check how much this played into the bird thing but it is a reasonable possibility and an understandable one, as jewish heritage has been so often destroyed and erased. regardless, the palestinian response to make the bird a symbol is equally understandable.) relatedly, be careful about the phrase “from the river to the sea”, because while it's sometimes about palestinian liberation, it's also often used as a dogwhistle that means “kill all jews in the levant”; and the dogwhistle version has become increasingly common as of late. look into the organization called standing together for antisemitism-free activism and jewish/palestinian solidarity.

I see what you mean, the history you mentioned seems to check out and it's unquestionably been a tumultuous part of the world that's been given a lot of different names over time. However I don't really feel comfortable in agreeing it was combating revisionism because it happened during what I understand to be a violent occupation. Without a source or truly knowing the intentions it's just kind of speculation.

"From the river to the sea" was used in that post in the context of Palestinian freedom and peace. Related to that point, I also received another ask concerned with my use of the word "zionist" as it has historically described a very wide range of ideas, and has also been used as an antisemitic dogwhistle. That was not my intent, it's the word I was most familiar with to get across my point that I don't support violence against or the erasure of Palestinian culture. Those using violence and calls for peace to excuse antisemitism are despicable. One can and should be an ally of both Palestinians and Jewish people.

I looked up Standing Together, I can certainly get behind their message of peace and cooperation, and people in Israel who are working to end the genocide deserve so much respect and admiration. It seems like reception to the movement has been mostly positive, but I feel it'd be irresponsible not to mention that the PACBI wing of the BDS movement has taken issue with it in the past week. I don't feel qualified to take a definitive stance either way, especially as I also can't read Hebrew or Arabic to get more direct contex. I encourage anyone interested to learn more and come to your own conclusions.

My overall point is that I do not support the genocide the Israeli miltary is enacting on the Palestinian people. I want to share more posts about Palestinian culture, art, and joy in a time where there is effort being made to erase it.

Finally, while I do my best to make sure what goes on this blog is accurate, I just wanna make it clear that I'm neither an expert at research, nor am I able to be a definitive resource for this topic (or frankly most things).

hi, may I ask what BDS means?

Hi! Of course you may :D

BDS stands for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. It's a movement that promotes boycotting Israeli goods, universities, cultural institutions etc., divesting from companies that provide military supplies to Israel and calling for sanctions in hopes of pressuring the country to meet their demands. Which are to withdraw from the West Bank and remove the barrier, equality for the Arab-Palestinian citizens, right of return for Palestinian refugees etc.

Obligatory warning! I do NOT support the far right Israeli government and its policies (fuck Bibi and his cronies)! I do not see any joy in deaths (both Palestinian and Israeli), I want this war to end as soon as possible, I want peace in the region for everyone!

While their support from Palestinians is high, their tactics had little to no positive effect... in fact it has been quite the opposite, considering the movement has been active for almost two decades...

They have failed to pressure Israel economically, their effect on the economy being negligible, although they have been successful in convincing quite a few unions, and organizations to endorse their cause and pull support of Israel, but due to their boycott of Soda Stream, the company closed their factory in the West Bank, costing a lot of Palestinians their jobs...

So far they've only really been a useful tool for the Israeli right. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Some people see the movement as being very wishy washy I would say. Their definitions are broad to the point that everything Israeli can potentially fall under a boycott. Like hummus, which they allege "provides support for the Israeli military" (I assure you, hummus export is not a significant part of the Israeli economy).

And while they claim to be pro peace and advocating for a two state solution, they unconditionally support anything Palestinians do and rarely if ever condemn terrorism on their part. Which just endorses more violence instead of a dialogue towards peace. Also due to their focus on Israel they single it out as a uniquely oppressive regime (while ignoring other, often worse, atrocities around the world), which while I agree that Israel has done a lot of awful things, it is far from the worst human rights abuses and certainly not unique in its cruelty. Of course it is right to condemn Israel for its wrongdoings, but the movement has been very ineffective so far in the "let's put economic pressure" sense, only demonizing Israel and everything related to it.

They refuse to engage with anything Israeli, including art (and causing several artists to cancel their shows in Israel) and more importantly a part of the movement (specifically the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, or PACBI) has condemned an Israeli-Palestinial grassroots peace organization(!!!) Standing Together (which I highly encourage you check out) which has been doing actual work towards conversation between Israelis and Palestinians with the goal of a Palestinian state and peace, which has condemned the occupation of the territories, which has been protesting despite the police refusing to allow them to (facing arrests and police brutality because of that) and so much more. BDS sees this as "normalization", a "distraction", and "whitewashing" (somehow?), which just reveals that a lot of people in the movement just want Israel gone, not caring about what would happen to its population.

From what I see and where I stand (barely, I'm a cane user, badum tss), BDS is ineffective in achieving its actual goals, however it has successfully divided college campuses and politics both in the US and Europe, inviting even more antisemitism, they are extreme and very narrow minded, accusing American Jews of dual loyalty. Their support of the Boston map being the prime example (which they later distanced themselves from, kinda).

But of course, look into this yourself to make your own opinions. I'm far from an expert and if I've been factually incorrect, please let me know.

Introduction

Hi, as a disclaimer I'd like to start off by stating that I am not Palestinian but I want to do everything I can to help. This blog is to help spread to fandoms how we can all take action to help free Palestine. I will be sharing posts from various platforms to help them reach a wider audience

it is particularly inspired by @/zionistsinmusic on twt and insta. Please give them a follow if you have accounts on those sites

And by the PACBI cultural boycott movement as part of BDS which is something we should all be passionate about

Please feel free to ask questions here

ZIONISTS HAVE NO PLACE IN ART!

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate call on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to ban Israel from the Eurovision Song Contest – the world’s biggest live music event – or face widespread boycotts.

seeing zionists on here spread disinformation about PACBI (the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel) so let's dispel that real quick. PACBI is a boycott of academic and cultural institutions. it is not a boycott of individual artists or academics who hold Israeli citizenship or identify their nationality as Israeli. from the official PACBI guidelines: "Anchored in precepts of international law and universal human rights, the BDS movement, including PACBI, rejects on principle boycotts of individuals based on their identity (such as citizenship, race, gender, or religion) or opinion. Mere affiliation of Israeli cultural workers to an Israeli cultural institution is therefore not grounds for applying the boycott. If, however, an individual is representing the state of Israel or a complicit Israeli institution, or is commissioned/recruited to participate in Israel’s efforts to 'rebrand' itself, then her/his activities are subject to the institutional boycott the BDS movement is calling for."

so if someone tells you that PACBI is discriminatory, they either do not understand PACBI or are deliberately misrepresenting it

BDS WORKS

December 12, 2023

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), a founding part of the BDS movement, welcomes the news that PUMA won’t be renewing its contract with the Israel Football Association (IFA). PUMA has been the target of a worldwide BDS campaign since 2018 over its support for Israeli apartheid oppressing millions of Palestinians. The IFA governs and advocates to maintain teams in illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land. Leaked internal messages revealed that PUMA was under tremendous pressure to drop the contract. As Israel carries out its unfolding genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in occupied and besieged Gaza, killing over 18,000, including dozens of footballers, the boycott pressure was only increasing. The years of relentless, global BDS pressure on PUMA and the damage to its image should be a lesson to all companies supporting Israeli apartheid, that complicity has consequences. It is also a lesson to the deeply complicit, Western-dominated FIFA, which continues to shield Israel from accountability despite the settlement teams violating its own statutes. We thank the hundreds of grassroots solidarity groups, athletes and teams across the world who supported the call from 215 Palestinian teams to boycott PUMA. This boycott win is a bittersweet victory as Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians continues. But it gives us hope and determination to hold all genocide enablers and apartheid supporters accountable until all Palestinians can live in freedom, justice and equality.

Non-paywalled articles with the same news referenced in the first paragraph (x, x).

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), a founding member of the BDS movement, calls for the boycott of Eurovision 2024. We urge all participating broadcasters, national competitors, finalists, production crews, and viewers to boycott the contest following the refusal of the organisers, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), to ban genocidal Israel. Palestinians call on supporters to launch creative, strategic initiatives that can pressure broadcasters to withdraw, and appeal to all participants to refuse to be complicit in the EBU’s whitewash of apartheid Israel’s genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.

In BDS win, PUMA forced to drop sponsorship of Israel Football Association | BDS Movement

I'm sorry but could you explain to me how an individual boycott of Eurovision will have any effect at all? Like, don't get me wrong, i get the cause, and flooding the participating broadcoasters (especially the Big 5) with mail to get them to boycott makes a lot of sense to me.

But an individual boycott seems pretty... Effectless to me? Like, more people watch Eurovision than the superbowl. There's a normal fluctuation of up to round about 20 Million viewers between contests, so for an individual based boycott the participation in that boycott would need to be in the ballpark of x Million people for the EBU to even notice, at which point we're literally talking about on of the biggest organised protest actions in the history of mankind. That does seem a little ambitious, doesn't it?

Wouldn't it better course of action to watch the semi-final Israel is in and to widespread vote for the other competitors, so Israel doesn't make it to the final, and is denied both the big stage and the chance to host next year? Like, a lot less people watch the semis, let alone vote in them, that would be less ambitious and more effective then individuals not watching the finale.

I get the cause, i really do, and i share the view that Israel shouldn't have been allowed to compete this year, but i feel like individual boycotts and especially punishing people who do not partake in those boycotts feel like effectless symbolism to me. Especially when those people not boycotting still support Palestine in other ways. Like, seriously, people do not suddenly become your enemies just because they disagree with your methodology.

Like. Go write to the broadcasters. Organise or partake in a protest march. Write angry letters to the EBU, that all i understand. That's a way to actually make your voice be heard. But individual boycotts will fly by the EBUs radar.

(do not write the artists though. People are really overestimating how much power individual artists hold in Eurovision. Like, if they had dropped out earlier they'd just been replaced, if they'd dropped out now it would pretty much just end their careers via blacklisting and lawsuits)

Okay first of all PACBI has called everyone to boycott Eurovision so it isn't just an individual boycott.

But also you shouldn't always need a movement to protest against things you find unethical, "I cannot do all the good that the world needs. But the world needs all the good i can do" is a quote for a reason.

Also the effectlessness of individual boycotting brings to mind another quote "'but what can I do, I am just one person' said 7 billion people"and yes not everyone who usually watches Eurovision are going to boycott it. Some people don't know about the whole boycott, others don't think it'll do anything and some don't care about Palestinians enough. There is also those who might be watching just to show their support of Israel. But there will be many of those who won't watch and maybe not enough people for it to matter to anyone big, but it will matter to me. Because I want to belive in goodness of humans and goodness in myself.

I have not seen people talk about the kind of protest you are suggesting with the widespread voting for other countries so right now I don't really see that happening. I do see why many people would prefer that kind of protest, they would get to do tangible actions and watch Eurovision guilt free.

I have not been punishing anyone who doesn't boycott. I had DREAM in which I unfollowed a person on Tumblr, I was not punishing anyone it was a dream. Also you are always allowed to unfollow people for whatever reason. If one of the people I follow started liveblogging Eurovision it is very possible i would unfollow them at least for the duration of Eurovision because i don't want to see that. But that is not a punishment, harassing them about it (which i wouldn't do) is a punishment. And i certainly wouldn't call them my enemy😅😅

And yes protest in other ways also!!

In conclusion BOYCOTT EUROVISION!