Translations: Castellano, Català

Primavera Sound enjoys the backing of the Israeli Embassy in Spain, which makes the festival an accomplice of the policies contrary to International Law and Human Rights the Zionist State has been implementing in Palestine since 1948.

The programme of the Primavera Sound independent music festival being held in Barcelona from 27 to 31 May 2015 includes three Israeli bands –Acollective, Garden City Movement and theAngelcy– in a section entitled “Sounds from Israel”. These three bands are due to play on 28 and 29 May as part of PrimaveraPro, which the festival organisers define as “a meeting aimed at professionals in the music industry that takes place in parallel to Primavera Sound“.

These three bands are backed by the Israeli Embassy in Spain, as clearly stated on the PrimaveraPro website: “The Israeli Embassy in Spain’s Department of Culture aims to back artists and organisations that promote Israeli culture and science outside its frontiers. Its objective is to promote the latest innovations in the fields of culture and science in which Israel, in its short history as a nation, is internationally recognised.On this occasion it is backing the best of the music scene in Israel by promoting a small selection of bands that were chosen from 200 candidates.“

On 6 July 2004, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), comprising more than 170 Palestinian civil society organisations, called on the International community to boycott all of Israeli’s cultural and academic institutions, as a nonviolent contribution to the struggle against Israel’s occupation, colonisation and apartheid policies in Palestine since 1948.

One year later, on 9 July 2005, more than 170 Palestinian civil society organisations issued a call for Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions against Israel until the Israeli State: 1/ ends its occupation and colonisation of all the Arab lands occupied in June 1967 and dismantles the Wall; 2/ recognises the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and 3/ respects, protects and promotes the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.

The PACBI guidelines establish that “a cultural event is boycottable if it is partially or fully sponsored by an Israeli organisation or a complicit institution”. In view of the official support these bands receive from the Israeli Embassy in Spain, having them perform in the Primavera Sound Festival is clearly contrary to Palestinian civil society’s boycott call. The Israeli institutions invest large amounts of money to promote their culture in a desperate attempt to whitewash their image in the eyes of the international community, which is becoming more and more tired of their illegal policies.

Primavera Sound’s collaboration with the Israeli Embassy makes it complicit with the Zionist State’s violations of International Law and Human Rights. On top of this, the festival receives government subsidies to the tune of 300,000 Euros, but has no qualms in employing students on short-term, pitifully paid contracts.

In view of the above, we call on the festival organisers to: i) cancel the concerts by Acollective, Garden City Movement and theAngelcy, and the “Sounds from Israel” section; ii) sever all links with the Israeli Embassy and any other Israeli state institutions, This is exactly the same demand we made of the Festival in 2014. Unfortunately, however, Primavera Sound has decided to maintain and strengthen its links with the Israeli Embassy, thereby deepening its complicity with the Zionist crimes.

If the festival organisers fail to meet these two demands, we call on people planning to attend the festival to boycott the concerts by these three bands and not to take part in it at all.

Inspired by the magnificent example of the cultural boycott against the South African apartheid regime, the cultural boycott against Israel is getting stronger day by day and is receiving increasing support from many internationally famous artists and personalities around the globe such as Lauryn Hill, Cassandra Wilson, Bono, Natacha Atlas, Jean-Luc Godard, Cat Power, Jello Biafra, Lenny Kravitz, Lhasa, Roger Waters, Elvis Costello, Carlos Santana, Annie Lennox, Devendra Banhart, Vanessa Paradis, Gil Scott-Heron, The Pixies and Massive Attack.

In Spain, there are many artists and intellectuals who support the boycott Israel, including Marinah (Ojos de Brujo), Obrint Pas, Maruja Torres, Juan Diego Botto, Amparo Sánchez (Amparanoia), Pilar Bardem, Cesk Freixas, Los Chicos del Maíz, Leo Bassi, Pau Alabajos and Willy Toledo. The Guide to Cultural Boycott against Israeli Apartheid, published in 2013 by the Solidarity Network against the Occupation of Palestine (RESCOP), provides all the necessary information regarding the reasons for the boycott and how to implement it.

At Primavera Sound, the “Sounds from Israel” are sounds of apartheid. End complicity with the violation of Palestinian rights! For a cultural boycott of Israel!

Endorsed by:

BDS Catalunya
Coalició Prou Complicitat amb Israel (CPCI)
Red Solidaria contra la Ocupación de Palestina (RESCOP)