100+ actors, authors, directors and musicians call for end to Israeli attacks on Palestinian human rights groups
More than 100 public figures urge the international community to protect Palestinian human rights defenders.
Musicians Laurie Anderson, David Byrne, Jarvis Cocker and Massive Attack, film directors Laura Poitras, Jim Jarmusch, Costa Gravas and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, actors Mark Rylance, Tilda Swinton, Simon Pegg, Richard Gere, authors Philip Pullman, Naomi Klein, Irvine Welsh, Colm Tóibín and Monica Ali — are among dozens of high profile figures who have signed a statement criticising the Israeli government for launching what they say is:
“An unprecedented and blanket attack on Palestinian human rights defenders beginning with the designation […] of six leading Palestinian human rights organizations as “terrorist” groups.”
The statement goes on to warn that the Israeli military order that outlaws six “most eminent” Palestinian organizations in the occupied West Bank:
“…puts at risk not just the organizations themselves, but the entire Palestinian civil society and the tens of thousands of Palestinians they serve everyday.”
The artists urge:
“We call on all persons of conscience across the globe to stand with us. We call on the international community to #StandWithThe6 and protect Palestinian human rights defenders.”
Further to the joint statement, musician Peter Gabriel said:
“…Those brave enough and committed to guard our human rights, as these six organisations are, especially in difficult and dangerous situations, must be defended.”
Music producer Brian Eno commented on the situation:
“This is beyond cruelty. It’s savagery, barbarism…”
Author and former Greek Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis urged for sanctions:
“The decades-long failure of governments to hold Israel to account for its repression of the Palestinians has led to this situation. The international community must speak out and sanction Israel, now.”
Ken Loach cited a statement by Amnesty International and called for accountability:
“Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are right when they say that this is ‘an attack by Israel on the international human rights movement’.
When will the Israeli government be held to account for its crimes? Political leaders cannot claim to support the rule of law and then do deals with Israel when its racist oppression of Palestinians is plain for all to see.”
Screenwriter Paul Laverty (I, Daniel Blake, Looking For Eric) said:
“Once Governments start shutting down human rights organisations two simple questions ring in our ears… What are they hiding? What are they scared of? The answers are always revealing.”
Award-winning novelist Kamila Shamsie called on others to listen to Palestinian voices:
“For many years now, Palestinian writers, thinkers, and human rights campaigners have been calling for meaningful solidarity from people around the world. The least we can do is listen, amplify their voices, and above all, refuse to be complicit with the system that so cruelly oppresses them.
I #StandWithThe6 and all human rights defenders.”
The statement in full:
Over the past two weeks, Israel has launched an unprecedented and blanket attack on Palestinian human rights defenders beginning with the designation, on 19 October 2021, of six leading Palestinian human rights organizations as “terrorist” groups. The organizations include: Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Al-Haq Law in the Service of Man (Al-Haq), Bisan Center for Research and Development, Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P), the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC). Still, despite international condemnation by the UN, international human rights groups, and government officials, the Israeli occupation has doubled down in their crackdown and issued a military order that outlaws, entirely, the six Palestinian organizations in the West Bank.
The designations target six of the most eminent Palestinian human rights defenders engaged in critical human rights work and cover all aspects of civil society in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Addameer serves as one of the biggest organizations providing direct legal support to Palestinian political prisoners. Al-Haq, the oldest human rights organization both in Palestine and Middle East,extensively documents international humanitarian law and international human rights law violations in the occupied territory, specialising in individual and corporate accountability. Bisan Center produces extensive research and development reports in support of the poor and marginalized communities. DCI-P is a local affiliate of an international human rights organization that works to protect the rights of Palestinian children. The UAWC supports thousands of Palestinian farmers and their families amid the encroachment and violence of illegal Israeli settlements. The UPWC is a feminist, progressive, and grassroots organization that aims to empower Palestinian women. The vital work of these six organizations to protect and empower Palestinians and hold Israel accountable for its gross human rights violations and apartheid regime of institutionalized racial discriminationis precisely the work that Israel is trying to end.
Israel’s designation of these six Palestinian organizations as “terrorist” groups, and the military order that outlaws them places the safety of the organizations and their staff at imminent risk. The military order allows for Israeli occupation forces to raid their offices, forcibly shut them down, arbitrarily arrest their staff to be tried under Israeli military courts, and institute other reprisals including travel bans and residency revocations against their members. The threat of retaliation is real, and puts at risk not just the organizations themselves, but the entire Palestinian civil society and the tens of thousands of Palestinians they serve everyday.
To this end, we call on all persons of conscience across the globe to stand with us. We call on the international community to #StandWithThe6 and protect Palestinian human rights defenders, and demand that Israel rescind the terrorist designations immediately.
Full list of 114 signatories:
Kevin Macdonald, film director, UK
Peter Gabriel, musician, founder, Womad Festival, UK
Mike Leigh, film director, UK
Jodie Evans, film producer, USA
Robert Wyatt, musician, UK
Alfreda Benge, artist, UK
Aki Kaurismaki, film director, Finland
Liam Cunningham, actor, Ireland
Susan Sarandon, actor, USA
Ece Temelkuran, author, Turkey
Tilda Swinton, actor, UK
Jim Jarmusch, film director, USA
Laura Poitras, film director, USA
Simon Fisher Turner, musician, UK
Iciar Bollain, film director, Spain
Kleber Mendonça Filho, film director, Brasil
Julie Christie, actor, UK
V (formerly known as Eve Ensler), Playwright, USA
Mark Ruffalo, actor, USA
Philip Pullman, author, UK
Stephen Dillane, actor, UK
Brian Eno, artist, UK
Roger Waters, musician, UK
Ken Loach, film director, UK
Paul Laverty, writer, UK
Yann Martel, author, Canada
AL Kennedy, author, UK
Naomi Klein, author, Canada
Robert Guediguian, film director, France
Asif Kapadia, film director, UK
Juliet Stevenson, actor, UK
Yanis Varoufakis, author, Greece
Peter Kosminsky, screenwriter and director, UK
Titi Robin, musician, France
Etienne Balibar, philosopher, France
Harriet Walter, actor, UK
Apichatpong Weerasethakul, film director, Thailand
Bella Freud, artist, UK
David Michôd, film director, Australia
Claire Foy, actor, UK
Mark Rylance, actor, UK
Alfonso Cuaron, film director, Mexico
Thurston Moore, musician, USA
Jeremy Deller, artist, UK
Kamila Shamsie, author, UK
Monica Ali, author, UK
Eric Cantona, actor, France
Phil Manzanera, musician, UK
Laurie Anderson, artist, USA
Michèle Gavras, producer, France
Annemarie Jacir, film director, Palestine
Costa Gavras, film director, Greece
Juan Diego Botto, actor and playwright, Spain
Alberto San Juan, actor and playwright, Spain
Carlos Bardem, actor and writer, Spain
Residente (René Pérez), singer, artist, writer, film director, Puerto Rico
Irvine Welsh, author, UK
Tunde Adebimpe, musician, USA
David Byrne, musician, USA
Ohal Grietzer, musician, Israel
Tai Shani, visual artist, UK
Hany Abu-Assad, film director, Palestine
Simon Pegg, actor, UK
David Mitchell, author, UK
Mira Nair, film director, India
Jarvis Cocker, musician, UK
Fisher Stevens, director, USA
Leopoldo Gout, artist, USA
Julio Pérez del Campo, film director, Spain
Alain Damasio, author, France
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, choreographer, Belgium
Joe Sacco, comic book artist, journalist, USA
Mercè Sampietro, actor, Spain
Ian McEwan, author, UK
Colm Tóibín, author, Ireland
Elaine Mokhtefi, translator, USA
Madeleine Thien, author, Canada
Eliot Weinberger, author, USA
Sabrina Mahfouz, playwright and poet, UK
Joel Beinin, professor, USA
Omar Robert Hamilton, author, UK
John Oakes, publisher, USA
Mary Jane Nealon, poet, USA
Rachel Kushner, author, USA
Lina Meruane, author, Chile
Naomi Wallace, playwright, USA
Rashid Khalidi, author, Palestine
Ben Ehrenreich, author, USA
Adam Shatz, Writer, London Review of Books, USA
Farid Matuk, poet, USA
Michel Moushabeck, publisher, USA
Eileen Myles, poet, USA
Lila Abu-Lughod, Professor, USA
Natalie Diaz, poet, USA
Andrew Ross, New York University, USA
Zeina Azzam, poet, USA
Bernardine Dohrn, human rights advocate, USA
Molly Crabapple, author, USA
Jeffrey Sachs, University Professor at Columbia University, USA
Bruce Robbins, author, USA
Shuchi Saraswat, author, USA
James Schamus, screenwriter and producer, USA
Nancy Kricorian, writer, USA
Jacqueline Rose, author, UK
Andrew O’Hagan, author, UK
Hannah Khalil, playwright, Ireland
Ritu Menon, publisher, India
Janne Teller, author, Denmark
Nicholas Blincoe, author, UK
Rick Simonson, Bookseller, USA
Brigid Keenan, author, UK
Massive Attack, band, UK
Chipo Chung, actor, UK
Richard Gere, actor, USA
Additional statements by signatories, in full:
- Peter Gabriel, (musician, founder Womad Festival):
“The Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which was adopted in 1998 by the UN General Assembly, makes clear that an occupying power with a true commitment to human rights would “protect and encourage” human rights defenders, and “not ostracize, harass or silence them”.Those brave enough and committed to guard our human rights,as these six organisations are, especially in difficult and dangerous situations, must be defended.”
- Yanis Varoufakis, (author and politician)
“The decades-long failure of governments to hold Israel to account for its repression of the Palestinians has led to this situation. The international community must speak out and sanction Israel, now.”
- Brian Eno, (musician and producer)
Quote 1
“Q: ‘We’ve blown up their schools, hospitals, roads and cultural centres, imprisoned their boys and men, shot, beaten and tortured them…what else can we do to make life as unbearable as possible for the Palestinians?’
A:‘How about we criminalise all the organisations trying to help them stay on their feet? That should do it…’”
Quote 2
“This is beyond cruelty. It’s savagery, barbarism. Israel stands bathed in shame.’
- Ken Loach, (film director)
“Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are right when they say that this is ‘an attack by Israel on the international human rights movement’. When will the Israeli government be held to account for its crimes? Political leaders cannot claim to support the rule of law and then do deals with Israel when its racist oppression of Palestinians is plain for all to see?”
6. Paul Laverty (screenwriter, I, Daniel Blake, Looking For Eric) :
“Once Governments start shutting down human rights organisations two simple questions ring in our ears… What are they hiding? What are they scared of? The answers are always revealing.”
7. Kamila Shamsie (novelist, Home Fire)
“For many years now, Palestinian writers, thinkers, and human rights campaigners have been calling for meaningful solidarity from people around the world. The least we can do is listen, amplify their voices, and above all, refuse to be complicit with the system that so cruelly oppresses them. I #StandWithThe6 and all human rights defenders.”