State-sponsored Israeli dance company, L-E-V, is performing at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival (EIF).

Write to Fergus Linehan, Director of Edinburgh International Festival, EIF, The Hub, 348-350 Castlehill, Edinburgh EH1 2NE; OR email director@eif.co.uk.  Ask that EIF cancel the L-E-V performance because of its links to the Israeli state.

EA4P wrote to Linehan (letter here) and received this reply.  Our response to the reply is here.

The Israeli state stands accused by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the UN and other bodies of war crimes.
The festival director, Fergus Linehan, has declined to respond to Edinburgh Action for Palestine’s query about Israeli state sponsorship for this event, but we know that L-E-V’s performances are promoted by Israel’s embassies around the world (see the numerous links below), including their performance this month in London.

From the Israeli Embassy’s Cultural Facebook page   CultureIL

9 July at 11:08 · 

We are very excited for #Israeli dance company, L-E-V’s ‘Love Chapter 2’. Headed up by #SharonEyal Sadler’s Wells newest Associate Artist and #GaiBehar. 

13th & 14th July

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality. BDS upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity. .BDS demands are simple, comprehensive and clear:

• End the Occupation & dismantle the Wall
• Full equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel
• Right of return for Palestinian refugees

Several criteria have been developed for identifying artistic groups and events that should be boycotted (https://bdsmovement.net/pacbi/cultural-boycott-guidelines).  At least two of these criteria are relevant to L-E-V’s participation in EIF 2018:

As a general overriding rule, Israeli cultural institutions, unless proven otherwise, are complicit in maintaining the Israeli occupation and denial of basic Palestinian rights, whether through their silence or actual involvement in justifying, whitewashing or otherwise deliberately diverting attention from Israel’s violations of international law and human rights.

A cultural EVENT/ACTIVITY is boycottable if it is partially or fully sponsored by an official Israeli body or a complicit institution.

Boycott is a traditional, peaceful form of protest. Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jnr & Nelson Mandela all used boycotts.

Cancellation of the performances would provide great encouragement to Palestinians suffering Israeli oppresion. If however the event goes ahead join us to protest outside the Kings Theatre, Edinburgh, 9-12 August.   For time and details of each evening’s protest, see our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/EdinburghAction4Palestine/or email to join our mailing list by emailing us at EdinburghAction4Palestine@gmail.com.

Links indicating Israeli government support and sponsorship of L-E-V:

https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/15920
http://embassies.gov.il/marseille/NewsAndEvents/Pages/Sharon-Eyal-Gai-Behar.aspx
http://embassies.gov.il/san-francisco/calendar-of-events/Pages/L-E-V-OCD-Love-Seattle.aspx
https://www.whitebird.org/event/l-e-v-israel/
https://nac-cna.ca/en/media/newsrelease/17848
https://twitter.com/IsraelinSG/status/973827975941709824
https://twitter.com/evelyncoster/status/976058731120209920