Edinburgh Fringe: Second Israel-funded show pulled

[oberliner]

AN ISRAELI arts company has pulled the plug on its Edinburgh Festival Fringe show - amid fears over the safety of its performers.

Student dance company Pola said it had been warned that its performers could be put in danger if they ahead with a show at the St Bride’s Centre.

The troupe, targeted by pro-Palestine campaigners because it is attached to the state-funded Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, were warned by the venue’s producers last week of the risk of large-scale protests outside if their visit went ahead.

The university now says it is not willing to “compromise” on the safety of its performers, who were due to appear as part of the Acoustic Music Centre programme at the city council-owned venue from August 9-11.

http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/arts/news/edinburgh-fringe-second-israel-funded-show-pulled-1-3498490

[LeftishBrit]

1. Much as I disapprove of what Israel is doing at the moment...

stopping artistic performances by Israeli student performers is not the answer.

[LittleBlue]

2. Safety my arse, it was because of protests

Doubts over the group’s visit to Edinburgh emerged on Friday hours after the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign vowed to step up its campaigning by trying to have Pola’s show, La Karina, called as part of a “cultural boycott.” However both the council and the venue insisted the decision to cancel the shows had been taken by the university company.

Pola is the second Israeli arts company to be targeted, with Fringe promoters Underbelly still trying to find a new home for theatre company Incubator, after a major protest outside its first performance. Promoter John Stalker told The Scotsman it would be a “tall order” for them to get an alternative venue now.

Future performances at the Reid Hall were axed after more than 150 demonstrators turned up outside the venue and protested for several hours, disrupting a number of Fringe shows.

Protest every Israeli performance until the quasi apartheid in Israel ends.

[4now]

3. Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction is getting larger every day

More people are speaking out against Israeli Apartheid.
http://www.bdsmovement.net/

[JI7]

4. this is sad, it's the same as when brown people were attacked after 9/11

even on this site there are people who try to justify anti semitism by bringing up what the israeli govt is doing.

this is an art show , why target them ?

[Comrade Grumpy]

5. See the link in the post above you? It's a boycott.

Boycotts are designed to inflict pain on sometimes innocent parties in order to get them to inflict some pain on the government in question. If enough Israelis are hurt by boycotts, divestment, and sanctions, perhaps they will have something to say to their government about it.

These Israeli students are paying a price for their government's actions.

[Comrade Grumpy]

6. And it's not "the same as when brown people were attacked after 9/11."

This student performance isn't being targeted because of the ethnicity of its members, but because of their nationality. And the fact that they are supported by the Israeli government.