July 2015

Israeli citizens say NO to the Cameri’s Participation in the International Greek Drama Festival in Cyprus!

To: Organizers of the International Greek Drama Festival in Cyprus and international theatre professionals

We are Israeli citizens, active against our government's policies of racism, occupation and Apartheid, against the Palestinian people. We have learned that the Tel Aviv-based Israeli Cameri theatre is scheduled to take part in the International Greek Drama Festival in Cyprus this month (http://www.greekdramafest.com/electra-by-sophocles/). As Israeli citizens, we ask you to disinvite the Cameri and/or refrain from any collaboration with this institution.

The Cameri regularly performs in Israel's illegal settlements. For example, the theatres has recently performed in the settlement of Ariel, with the productions of Lend Me a Tenor and Best Friends. Please note that these productions amount to no more than light entertainment.

Israel's colonial settlement project is an ongoing war crime. Ariel, like many other settlements, was built on stolen Palestinian land, The Palestinian neighbours of Ariel are not even allowed to enter the settlement without a special permit.

The Cameri, and the Israeli government, always come up with excuses to justify Israeli government funded performances of Israeli theatre abroad. We ask you to look at the reality here. Millions of human beings, palestinians, are being brutalized on daily basis. Against this, international civil society only has one tool, but it is a moral and important one - an end to cooperation with complicit Israeli institutions.

In 2011, Peter Brook, a pioneer in the field of theatre, canceled his participation in a festival in Tel Aviv, due to the Cameri's complicity in Israel's occupation and violations of Palestinian human rights. (http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=2000)

We call on the theatres scheduled to take part in the festival not to legitimize an Israeli institution which is directly involved in the ongoing war crimes of Israel's settlement project, and complicit in the Israeli government's propaganda efforts abroad.

We urge you to heed our call, and follow the example set by Peter Brook and many others. We also urge you to contact our partners at the Palestinian BDS campaign, and talk to them about what theatre professionals can do to help bring an end to Israel’s apartheid, and build a democratic future.

Please say no to the Israeli Apartheid regime and complicit Israeli institutions!