For decades Palestinians have lived under and struggled against a system of Israeli occupation, colonization, and apartheid. Today, the vast majority of Palestinian civil society calls upon us to join the global boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement to pressure Israel to respect international law and Palestinian rights.
One of the most important elements of the BDS movement is the cultural boycott campaign, launched by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). With this campaign, PACBI asks all of us to recognize Israeli cultural institutions’ complicity with Israeli apartheid, to refrain from participating in cultural events in Israel, and to boycott events throughout the world that are sponsored by the Israeli government, Israel lobby groups, and complicit Israeli institutions.
This campaign is not targeted at individuals but at institutions that help maintain the multitiered system of oppression of the Palestinian people. PACBI has developed a full set of guidelines for evaluating whether an event is boycottable.
