כך מוצהר באירוע פייסבוק חדש (לינק לאירוע) שפתח המשתמש ריצ'רד ריילי.
מסתבר שהמלחמה בלבנון (אופס, עזה) מספקת תירוץ מוצלח לאנשים מסויימים להחרים את סיור ההופעות של להקת המחול בת-שבע בשיקאגו. בעת כתיבת שורות אלו כבר נרשמו לאירוע 29 איש, 30 אולי יגיעו, 51 לא יגיעו, ומחכים לתשובה מעוד 200. זה משמח לראות שהתהודה שהאירוע מקבל היא קטנה, מחד. מצד שני, מי היה חושב על משהו כזה? יחי האינטרנט.
הנה הטקסט המלא של האירוע, שמסביר את הרציונל שמאחוריו:
Boycott the Batsheva Dance Company's U.S. Tour!
Picket outside the Chicago Performance
When: Sunday, February 8 – 12:30-2:00 PM
Where: Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University
50 E. Congress, Chicago
– Please invite your friends –
Israel's latest brutal attacks on Gaza killed over 1300 people and injured over 5000; including 400 children killed and another 1500 injured. These numbers are expected to rise as more bodies are discovered beneath the ruins in the coming days. 100,000 people are now homeless as Israel's siege of Gaza continues, despite the latest ceasefire.
Meanwhile, the Batsheva Dance Company of Tel Aviv is touring the US and Canada starting January 28th through March of 2009. Israeli consular officials, — desperate to project a positive public image in the wake of international outrage against Israeli war crimes in Gaza — are working overtime to promote Batsheva's latest US tour.
Writing October 26, 2008, in The Independent of London, Jenny Gilbert reports that the dance company is "funded by Israel's government, its performers include none of Arab extraction, and it is "proud to be considered Israel's leading ambassador.'"
The most recent Israeli atrocities in Gaza have added a heightened sense of urgency to the 2005 appeal from hundreds of Palestinian civil society organizations calling for a global movement to boycott, divest and bring sanctions against the Israei apartheid state. The calls for boycott include commercial, academic, and cultural aspects, and have been echoed by numerous Israeli and international artists, academics, and thinkers.
Related Links:
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9989.shtml
Endorsing organizations: (list in formation} International Solidarity Movement-Chicago chapter, Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago, Chicagoans Against Apartheid in Palestine, Students for Justice in Palestine (UIC), Gay Liberation Network, Americans Muslims for Palestine, International Socialist Organization, Rachel Corrie Brigade, Irving Park Neighbors for Peace & Justice, Workers World Party, Fight Imperialism Stand Together (FIST)
– To endorse this action, please contact ISM at:
[email protected]
The Batsheva Dance Company is currently scheduled to perform in Houston, TX; Purchase, NY; Princeton, NJ; Philadelphia, PA; Pittsburgh, PA; Chicago, IL; Columbus, OH; Ottawa, ON; Ann Arbor, MI; Minneapolis, MN; Vancouver, BC; Santa Barbara, CA; San Diego, CA; Los Angeles, CA; and New York, NY. For details and updates on the dance company's schedule please check the web site of their North American booking agent, H-Art Management, at: [ http://www.h-artmanagement.com/calendar.html ]