Two hundred fifty Dutch and Belgian cultural institutions this week announced a boycott of Israel, saying they will not collaborate with Israeli organizations they consider complicit in rights violations and will not show their work on Israeli stages, in museums or at film festivals.
The Dutch Film Festival, the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent and the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten (National Academy of Fine Arts) are among the institutions backing the boycott.
A number of prominent cultural figures, including Eric Corton, Dinand Woesthoff, Nasrdin Dchar and Maryam Hassouni, have also expressed support for the call.
In a statement, the signatories say they wish “no longer to remain on the sidelines of war crimes, crimes against humanity and a genocide of the Palestinian people recognized by all authoritative institutions.”
The organizers said Israeli institutions that have spoken out against the government’s policies are not covered by the cultural boycott.
“The boycott explicitly does not target individuals or their origins, that is, Israelis as such, but the complicity of Israeli institutions and companies in human rights violations against the Palestinians,” they said.
The initiators also called on the sports, academic, economic and political sectors to sever ties with Israel, saying: “Only together can we force Israel to comply with international law.”
