Jewish groups push back against Sydney Festival boycott

Jewish groups are urging organisers of the Sydney Festival not to reject Israeli government sponsorship, as performers pull out of the program in solidarity with Palestine.

Comedian Nazeem Hussain is one of the performers who has pulled out of the Sydney Festival because of Israeli government sponsorship money.

Jewish groups are urging organisers of the Sydney Festival not to reject Israeli government sponsorship, as performers pull out of the arts and cultural program in solidarity with Palestine.

Palestine support group Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Australia started an online petition calling for festival director Olivia Ansell to return money from the Israeli Embassy – understood to be about $20,000 – because of “Israel’s ongoing crimes against Palestinians”.

“Israel funds cultural events and ambassadors to ‘art-wash’ the human rights violations it perpetrates against the Palestinians,” the petition reads.

The funding is for performances hosted by the Sydney Dance Company called Decadance, which was created in part by the Batsheva Dance Company of Tel Aviv.

Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich called the protest antisemitic and said the festival should take a public stance against it.

Dr Abramovich said the festival “celebrates the principles of open conversation, equality of participation and freedom of expression, and must never succumb to the aggressive pressure tactics of intimidation”.

“I call on the Sydney Festival to push back against this petition which is a thinly veiled antisemitic slow-acting poison and to declare that they will stand strong against the BDS,” he said.

Liberal MP Dave Sharma said festival organisers should “push back hard against these attempts at intimidation”.

“The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement has no place in a tolerant multicultural society such as Australia and should not be humoured in the slightest,” he said. “It is an irony that at the very same time the United Arab Emirates is welcoming Israeli artists, performers and tourists with open arms to build mutual understanding and foster peace and coexistence, we have extremist organisations in Australia seeking to do the exact opposite”.

Ron Gerstenfeld, deputy chief of mission at the embassy in Canberra, said Israel was proud to support the festival.

“Culture is building bridges to get peace between people,” he said. “The campaign is unfortunately a violent campaign and hopefully it does not succeed.”

At least six acts or participants have pulled out of the month-long festival that will host more than 130 events from January 6 – comedian Nazeem Hussain, rapper Barkaa, author Amy McQuire, dance company Bindi Bosses, Bankstown Poetry Slam and Arab Theatre Studio. As well, novelist Michael Mohammed Ahmad has turned down a position on the festival’s board.

BDS Australia deputy convener Peter Slezak said Israel was in “gross violation of a whole slew of international laws and human rights”. “It is unconscionable for the Sydney Festival to be involved with the Israeli government in this way,” Dr Slezak said.

A festival spokesman said it would not end its relationship with the Israeli Embassy in 2022, but it could review the arrangement in future.

“The festival is unwavering in its commitment to ensuring a culturally safe space for all artists, employees and audiences, and will be reviewing all funding arrangements with embassies and cultural organisations to ensure that any continuance of these partnerships are compatible with maintaining a welcoming and culturally safe environment moving forward,” he said.