Finnish artists, cultural workers and academics join Palestinian-led boycott of Israel
October 2023 (Originally published in June 2021)
We the undersigned Finnish and Finland-based artists, cultural workers, academics, art organizations and academic institutions support Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom, and call for an end to Israeli apartheid.
We condemn Israel’s colonialism, occupation and violence against Palestinian people. The human rights organizations Amnesty, B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch have concluded that the Israeli government’s policies amount to the crime of apartheid as defined in international law. International civil society has risen to widely support Palestinian rights. The international media has begun to shift from normalizing the occupation of Palestinian lands and the persecution of Palestinians, and silencing the critics, towards reporting openly about the situation. Defense of human rights has been energised by the global antiracist movement, in particular the change in atmosphere engendered by the Black Lives Matter movement. Now it is time to take action.
We support the cultural and academic boycott of Israel as part of the international Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. BDS is a Palestinian-led nonviolent anti-racist movement for freedom, justice and equality. BDS upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity.
We pledge not to accept any invitation to perform or exhibit in Israel nor to accept any funding from any institution linked to the government of Israel. We will not present or distribute artworks or publications commissioned by the state of Israel. We pledge to follow the guidelines of the BDS-movement. We commit to this boycott until Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.
We call on the State of Finland to respect human rights and immediately end all arms trade with Israel and ban the import of products from the illegal settlements.
We call Finnish and Finland-based artists, cultural workers and academics as well as cultural organizations and academic institutions to join the boycott.
PLEASE NOTE: sign the statement only once. We will add your signature within a week.
We recommend signatories to read the guidelines of the academic/cultural boycott:
Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) -movement:
https://bdsmovement.net/what-is-bds
BDS National Committee’s guidelines for cultural boycott:
https://bdsmovement.net/cultural-boycott
hhttps://bdsmovement.net/pacbi/cultural-boycott-guidelines
BDS National Committee’s guidelines for academic boycott:
https://bdsmovement.net/academic-boycott
https://bdsmovement.net/pacbi/academic-boycott-guidelines
More information
Against Apartheid – a call for action by Palestinian artists and academics:
https://www.againstapartheid.com
The Human Rights Watch report:
https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and- persecution
The B’tselem report:
https://www.btselem.org/publications/fulltext/202101_this_is_apartheid
Amnesty International report:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/
Jewish Voice for Peace: “Critique of Israel’s policies is not antisemitism”
https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/ihra/
Movement for Black Lives: “US must end it’s funding of Israel’s apartheid regime”
https://m4bl.org/statements/end-us-complicity-in-israels-abuses-of-palestinians/
On the shifting attitudes of mainstream media:
https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/faces-of-60-slain-palestinian-children-on-nyt-front-page/
Unprecedented number of scholars and university departments join protests:
https://bdsmovement.net/news/unprecedented-numbers-university-departments-and-scholars-urge-end-israeli- apartheid
The State of Finland’s complicity (in Finnish):
https://rauhanpuolustajat.org/suomen-osallisuudesta-palestiinan-tilanteeseen/
More statements
FREE PALESTINE: Call for Action for Finnish Art and Cultural Institutions
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i01i910O3MTy8p4QsEVSGrjZmi03Pc53ZqVdHBT1XaY/edit? fbclid=IwAR2LW8ihjDIPHBXw2fW99vTfxn9hYxkZXr7zKzYnrOLRm21AbNYrPNrFfcg
Statement in Solidarity with the Palestinian People by Researchers, Research Groups and Staff of Tampere University:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qwb90zbBhXxEDm4BD_nYAhFzyjHhFPtmyc8NgPYA S6E/edit
An international statement by Dutch scholars and academics:
https://netherlands2palestine.wordpress.com
An international statement by architecture and urban planning organizations:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1xIoEAZ3Hln1dUspnhZ9Eii5OIRlfk_ZRaLVZICbeF7Q/viewform? ts=60a4abb3&edit_requested=true
An international statement for scholars and academics:
https://palestineandpraxis.weebly.com/
An international statement for musicians:
https://musiciansforpalestine.com
A statement by Canadian artists and cultural workers:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf5WW7Uw_LWKxahG1ffqlPrqxgncAOyo87ExtSgfTXE0cjzug/viewform
A statement for boycott by Irish artists:
http://www.ipsc.ie/cultural-boycott/ipsc-irish-artists-pledge-to-boycott-israel#1
PLEASE NOTE: sign the statement only once. We will add your signature within a week.
List of signatories
(back to landing page)
