BDS

The IHRA definition is being used to stifle Palestine activism, exactly as activists had warned it would, report Chris Nineham and Sybil Cock

A personal account of a magnificent day of solidarity and internationalism from Orlando da Rocha Hill

Israel is not acting in self-defence, it's the Palestinian people who are under attack and we need to stand with them, argues Shabbir Lakha

Israel's deadly assault on Gaza on the weekend should be a reminder to all that solidarity with Palestine is urgent, argues Thomas Gibbs

The smears against Corbyn and the left are part of a concerted effort to undermine a potential left government and must be opposed, argues Alex Snowdon

11 May is the mobilisation that the movement’s been waiting for, reports Sybil Cock

In the first of a monthly series, Sybil Cock lays out what Palestine solidarity must look like in practice 

With the contest taking place in Tel Aviv this year, we must supercharge campaigners’ demands for a full boycott, argues Dave Randall

Tory Brexit crisis, the fightback against austerity, Eurovision boycott campaign, Trump and Syria, remembering Rosa Luxemburg, Yellow Vests and protests across Europe in this month's Counterfire Freesheet

Ten years on since the massacre of Operation Cast Lead, conditions in Gaza are worse than ever, argues Shabbir Lakha

The ongoing assault on the Palestinian people is intensifying, and we need to up our response, argues Mona Kamal

Israel’s history, from its origins in 1948's Nakba, is characterised by racism, violence and apartheid policies towards Palestinians, explains Sybil Cock

A short video explaining why adopting the full IHRA definition would be a mistake for Labour

Tens of thousands marched peacefully for the right to return to the occupied territories, but IDF soldiers shot to kill, reports Jack Hazeldine, with 6 weeks of protest ahead

The arrest of Ahed Tamimi, a symbol of resistance to ongoing Israeli occupation, has put systemic maltreatment and detention of Palestinian children in the spotlight argues Huda Ammori

Having had the criminal charges for shutting down an Israeli arms factory against her dropped, Huda Ammori explains why this is a victory for BDS

The coverage of the Priti Patel affair has been largely focused on the breach of the Ministerial code, but it goes deeper than that argues Shabbir Lakha

Let’s ensure that the increased Israeli oppression around the Al Aqsa mosque re-energises the BDS movement, argues Alex Snowdon 

By ignoring the pleas of Palestinians, the band will help the Israeli government’s propaganda effort, writes Dave Randall

The media’s refusal to report on the plight of the Palestinians works to normalise the Israeli occupation, writes Jen Izaakson

On the 69th anniversary of the Nakba and with 1,500 Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, Nourhan Ashraf Elsayed looks at how activists are showing solidarity

The US reaction to a UN report describing Israel as an apartheid state demonstrates its potential legal power as well as in the movement argues Nourhan Ashraf Elsayed

Campaigners are targeting UK arms companies as a new report exposes their role in supporting the infrastructure of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine reports Elliot Murphy

As Israel goes to the polls Elliot Murphy looks at the ongoing cost of last year's assault on Gaza

Ride frontman Mark Gardener has agreed to perform in Tel Aviv. Tommy Mack looks at the arguments around the cultural boycott of Israel

Reuben Bard-Rosenberg: the Palestine solidarity movement must remain intolerant of anti-Semitism - but the claim that anti-Semitism is a dominant or generalised feature needs to be exposed as the falsehood that it is

A ceasefire is not enough - we need to step up the boycott, end the siege and fight for a free Palestine argues Lindsey German in today’s Morning Star

Sairah Tariq makes the case for joining the protest against the Israeli state-sponsored Batsheva dance company this Thursday, Friday and Saturday

At this year’s prestigious Edinburgh International Festival (EiF) Israeli-state sponsored Batsheva Dance Company, who work within the Brand Israel project of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), will be performing over three nights from Thursday 30th August to Saturday 1st September and will then embark on a UK wide tour.

Art and politics are not separate in this case as the MFA has stated Batsheva is ‘the best global ambassador of Israeli culture’. The dance company receives funding from the MFA which tries to draw attention to Israeli arts as to negate the focus from conflict and occupation of Palestine. As Arye Mekel of Israeli’s MFA has said ‘We send well-known novelists and writers overseas, theatre companies, exhibits…This way you show Israeli’s prettier face, so we are not thought of purely in the context of war’.

The Jewish Chronicle has reported that an Israel’s Minister of Sports and Culture, Limor Livnat, will be attending one of the three performances, this politicises the Batsheva performances despite the director of EiF’s repeated attempts to deny the link between the dance company and the Israeli Government. An open letter was published in the Herald yesterday signed by writers and artists including Liz Lochhead, Iain Banks, Tom Leonard, AL Kennedy and Raja Shehadeh condemning Jonathon Mills, director of EiF, refusal to cancel the performances.

Hana Awaad of El Funoun, one of Palestine’s dance troupes, encapsulates Israel’s cultural apartheid well when she states:

‘While Israeli artists and performers have freedom to tour, exhibits and performances by Palestinian artists are systematically banned, sabotaged and closed down by the Israeli occupation. Artists themselves are targets of violence, arbitrary arrests and deportations. Israeli’s three-tiered system of occupation, colonisation and apartheid ruthlessly suffocates the livelihoods of Palestinian communities, including the right to artistic and cultural expression’.

The boycott of Batsheva is a response to The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) which calls for a boycott of all cultural performers and exhibiters that are institutionally linked to the Israeli state. It is part of a broader Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign called in 2005 by over 200 Palestinian civil society organisations. These campaigns allow individuals, organisations and festival organisers across the world to take a stand against Zionism. Israel has illegally occupied Palestine since 1948, with the Palestinians living under brutal conditions. We should not welcome Batsheva Dance Company who receives its funding from a state that practices apartheid and suppresses Palestinian culture. Challenge their presence and join the protests on the following dates to take a stand against Brand Israel.

6pm Thursday 30 August

7pm Friday 31 August

7pm Saturday 1 September at Edinburgh Playhouse on Leith Walk

From the ISG site