PSN requests the withdrawal of invitation for Victoria Hanna to perform at WOMAD 2018

We see from the programme that Israeli singer Victoria Hanna is scheduled to perform at the March 2018 WOMAD festival.

Our concern is that Victoria Hanna’s attendance at the festival would be a breach of the international boycott of apartheid Israel. This is referred to internationally as the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement which was launched by 170 Palestinian organisations in 2005 as a way to bring non-violent pressure on the Israeli regime to abandon its racist policies, end its military occupation of Palestinian land and allow the return of Palestinian refugees to their homes and land.. see https://bdsmovement.net/

Victoria Hanna is currently based at the University of California as part of the Visiting Israeli Artist Programme of The Israel Institute who describe their role in these terms –

“By presenting Israeli art, music, film, dance and literature to an international audience, the Israel Institute showcases an important aspect of modern Israel that few people get to see firsthand, and fosters the deeper understanding of Israel that the Institute is committed to inspiring”.

The “deeper understanding of Israel” is code for Israeli propaganda. In other words Hanna’s visit is part of a propaganda tour for the Israeli state.

This letter is therefore a formal request from PSN that you withdraw the invitation for Victoria Hanna to perform at WOMAD 2018.

Just as most New Zealanders stood with black South Africans in the fight against apartheid in South Africa we must also stand in solidarity with the Palestinian victims of Israeli apartheid.

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