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2022-01-06 Down Under
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20 acts pull out of Sydney Festival over Israeli embassy funding of dance show
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 [IsraelTimes] Backing boycott calls by pro-Paleostinian activists, performers accuse organizers of partnering with ’apartheid’ state, failing to provide ’cultural safety’ for Paleostinians
At least 20 acts have pulled out of a major cultural festival in Sydney, Australia, set to begin later this week, declaring a protest boycott in response to the Israeli embassy in the country funding a dance performance at the event. The embassy has provided $20,000 for "Decadance," a show based on a work by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin and Tel Aviv’s Batsheva Dance Company, as part of the Sydney Festival 2022. It is scheduled to be performed by the Sydney Dance Company on January 6-9 at the Sydney Opera House. On the festival website, the embassy is listed as a "star partner" due to the sponsorship.
Artists pulled out in response to calls for a boycott by Arab, pro-Paleostinian, and other activist groups, the Guardian reported on Tuesday. Some of those who withdrew accused Israel of apartheid practices toward the Paleostinians. However,
you can observe a lot just by watching...
festival organizers have remained determined to allow the performance to go ahead.
Local comedian Tom Ballard announced his withdrawal in a Twitter post on Tuesday, saying, "I love the Festival and I love telling jokes, but standing up for human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty ...
and standing against a system of apartheid is more important."
He called on the festival to return the funding it received from the embassy and urged other artists to follow his lead.
Singer Marcus Whale, in announcing his exit on Monday, tweeted that the Israeli embassy "collaborates with Western cultural institutions to paint Israel as a liberal democracy on one hand while enforcing brutal occupation and apartheid with the other. No more."
Some festival acts said they will participate but in an independent capacity and have withdrawn from the auspices of the Sydney Festival, according to the report.
The cast of the acclaimed play "Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner" said in a statement they are pulling out "in solidarity with the Paleostinian cause" and the rights of all indigenous people to "illusory sovereignty and liberation," referring to Israel as "another oppressive settler-colony."
They further accused festival organizers of failing to provide a "culturally safe space for all artists, employees, and audiences."
The Belvoir St Theatre said it will put on its scheduled show but will not accept any direct funding from the festival in because Paleostinian artists are not able to participate in "cultural safety."
In a statement Tuesday, the Sydney Festival board said it would keep the Israel-sponsored show and that it "wishes collectively to affirm its respect for the right of all groups to protest and raise concerns."
"All funding agreements for the current Festival — including for Decadance — will be honored, and the performances will proceed," it said. "At the same time, the Board has also determined it will review its practices in relation to funding from foreign governments or related parties."
The Paleostinian Justice Movement Sydney claimed in December that the Israeli embassy funding was agreed on in May and called for a boycott, accusing the festival of contributing "to the normalization of an apartheid state."
The embassy responded in a statement to the Guardian at the time that Israel was "proud to support and participate in this important Festival that showcases leading artists and performances from around the world.
"Culture is a bridge to coexistence, cooperation, and rapprochement and should be left out of the political arena," the embassy said.
PJMS is calling for a protest demonstration to be held opposite the opera house when the festival kicks off Thursday.
The pro-Paleostinian Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement says it seeks to end Israel’s control of lands captured in the 1967 Six Day War and what it describes as discrimination against Israel’s Arab minority. It also calls for a "right of return" for millions of Paleostinian refugees and their descendants to ancestral lands that they fled or were expelled from in the 1948 war during Israel’s creation.
Israeli officials vehemently reject the apartheid accusations, and Israel and other BDS opponents say that the BDS campaign encourages antisemitism and aims to delegitimize or even destroy Israel as a Jewish state. 
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