Today, thousands of artists, cultural workers, and organisations marched from the Royal Opera House to Downing Street to protest what they describe as British arts institutions’ complicity in Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people.
Organised by Culture Workers for Palestine, Make Freedom Ring, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Artists for Palestine, the landmark march continued a growing wave of arts sector actions in solidarity with Palestine.
The most recent case came in July when performer Danni Perry raised a Palestinian flag onstage during a curtain call at the Royal Opera House. Widely circulated footage showed Director of Opera Oliver Mears aggressively attempting to snatch the flag, later telling Perry they would “never work for the opera house again.”
In response, 182 staff members organised an open letter condemning the leadership’s handling of the incident and its collaboration with Israeli cultural institutions. Their collective action successfully pressured the Opera House to cancel a planned production at the Israeli National Opera — a powerful demonstration of the effectiveness and relevance of the BDS cultural boycott in the arts sector today. The march builds on the momentum of artists across the sector who are withdrawing from events, venues or festivals in protest at what they see as institutional ‘artwashing’ of grave war crimes. Playwright Caryl Churchill has endorsed the march, stating: “Let’s refuse to have our work used to advertise companies complicit in genocide.”
For more information on how you can show solidarity visit Culture Workers for Palestine. Image by John Chan.