Why Boycott Batsheva?
Frequently Asked Questions

Why boycott Israeli cultural institutions?

For decades, Palestinians have lived under and struggled against a system of Israeli occupation, colonization, apartheid, and genocide, both slow and accelerated. Today, the vast majority of Palestinian civil society calls upon people of conscience around the world to use boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) to pressure Israel to respect international law and Palestinian human rights.

One of the most important elements of BDS is cultural boycott. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) asks us all to recognize the role of Israeli cultural institutions in upholding zionism’s multitiered system of oppression. It calls on artists to refrain from participating in cultural events that are in Israel or are associated with its government, lobby groups, or other complicit Israeli institutions. It also calls on audiences around the world to boycott such events.

All Israeli cultural institutions are considered complicit until they actively reject their role in upholding oppression by (1) refusing to participate in the “artwashing” of Israel’s colonial and apartheid violence, and (2) publicly recognizing the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people enshrined in international law and expressed in the three demands of the BDS movement: an end to the occupation, an end to Israel’s apartheid regime of racial discrimination, and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.  

What do you mean by “artwashing”? Doesn’t art transcend politics?

Israel has politicized art by exploiting it to help “rebrand” its apartheid, settler-colonial regime. As an Israeli Foreign Ministry official explained: “We see culture as a propaganda tool of the first rank, and I do not differentiate between propaganda and culture.” The government’s “Brand Israel” effort aims to “show Israel’s prettier face,” painting over its crimes against the Palestinian people with an image of it as a flourishing center of arts and culture. 

This “artwashing” relies upon international audiences, particularly Americans, believing that a society that creates great art cannot also create immense violence—or at least that the former outweighs the latter. It also disturbingly implies that Palestinians and others in the region are less worthy of life and security because they don’t produce the same “great art” that Israel does. (Of course, this premise relies on ignorance of Palestinian art.)

Israeli artists who receive state funding to perform overseas often sign a contract pledging “to promote the policy interests of the State of Israel via culture and art, including contributing to creating a positive image for Israel.” In doing so, they forfeit any claim to artistic freedom.   

But isn’t Batsheva a progressive institution? And isn’t its choreographer, Ohad Naharin, a vocal critic of the Israeli government? 

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers Batsheva “the best known global ambassador of Israeli culture.” Batsheva has repeatedly been asked to disavow its role as “cultural ambassador” for the Israeli state and commit to Palestinian liberation, but these calls for ending complicity have been met with silence or denigration.

While Batsheva’s house choreographer, Ohad Naharin, has expressed sympathy for Palestinian suffering, this does not make him an ally to Palestinian liberation. On the contrary, he undermines Palestinian political agency when he repeatedly misrepresents the BDS movement. Naharin characterizes BDS protesters as misguided foreigners, detached from Palestine and reality, recently declaring that “when BDS people demonstrate, it doesn’t help the Palestinians, unfortunately, but it does add drama.” 

Within a settler-colonial society threatened by the existence of Palestinians, Batsheva’s vague references to Palestine are often interpreted as solidarity, but they are not. For example, when Culture Minister Miki Zohar tried to halt government funding for Batsheva after one of its dances included a Palestinian flag among dozens of other flags (including Israeli ones), news headlines fueled impressions of Batsheva as a source of artistic resistance. But the piece had no discernible message of solidarity with Palestine, and Batsheva’s official communication on the incident made clear that the flag appeared “in a broad artistic context,” dispelling any suspicions of alignment with the Palestinian cause.

The limits of Batsheva’s “resistance” can be clearly seen in the documentary Mr. Gaga. Participating in the 50th-anniversary celebration of the founding of the State of Israel, Naharin refused to change the costuming of his piece to appease the sensibilities of religious conservatives, even after the government threatened to pull funding. Yet the premise of this event – commemorating nation-building through the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians during the Nakba (Catastrophe) – was never addressed.

In summary, Batsheva’s criticism of the right-wing Israeli government reflects what Palestinian writer Jehad Abusalim has described as “a banal struggle for power within the colonial minority between the river and the sea.” Batsheva embraces its role as Israel’s cultural ambassador. When called upon to end its complicity and support the BDS movement’s three demands – an end to the occupation, equal rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel, and the right of return for refugees – Batsheva has consistently chosen silence or outright contempt. 

Is it hypocritical not to boycott American companies and companies funded by the US government, given how involved the US is in the oppression of Palestinians and many other groups?

It’s important to remember that targeted boycotts are a strategy employed by liberation movements when useful, not a blanket demand for moral purity. BDS is a direct call from Palestinian civil society. As of now, there is not a parallel call by any groups impacted by US oppression to boycott the US.

I’m ready to challenge Batsheva’s artwashing and complicity – how can I take action?

• Urge your local institutions to cut ties with Batsheva. Artists and arts and cultural organizations can sign this letter to Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) urging them to drop Batsheva from their programming. For help drafting outreach language to your own local institution, contact Dancers for Palestine (dancersforpalestine@gmail.com).

• Boycott and protest Batsheva performances. Follow Dancers for Palestine (Instagram: @dancers_for_palestine) for updates on protests. 

• Dancers: boycott Batsheva auditions as well as Gaga classes and workshops.