Watching the cruel and horrifying genocide of Palestinian people continue to unfold, we want to publicly join in the call for a total and immediate ceasefire: an end to the killing and harming of civilians, and to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, whose aid system is currently on the brink of total collapse.
We call on the UK government to end their complicity in and active support of human rights violations and to push for a diplomatic end to this brutal war. We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and with others across the arts sector calling for this action. We ask for others across the arts sector to join us: contact your MPs and MSPs and use the power you have to advocate for an end to this violence.
This war sits in the context of decades of violence and brutality towards the people of Palestine. We must recognise that the roots of this violence lie in the actions and legacies of colonialism, actions in which Britain played a key role and that no population should be forced to live in refugee camps and under fire.
We condemn the disturbing violence of Hamas on the 7th October towards Israeli adults and children which also weaponised horrific sexual violence. And this violence cannot be used to justify the ongoing mass killing of Palestinian adults and children and destruction of Palestine.
All struggles for freedom are entwined and we call for an intersectional response to this genocide for all peoples. Racism, homophobia, transphobia, antisemitism, ableism, Islamophobia and sexism cannot be part of the solution.
Images attached to this post are some of the resources that have helped / challenged us & shaped our thinking, they are also linked below and on our Instagram highlights.
Arts Workers for Palestine Statement - https://www.instagram.com/p/Cy0jBoUo5ER/?img_index=1
Scotland is with Palestine
What is Zionism?
The Virtue of being Apolitical
Adrienne Maree Brown
Palestine from an afrofuturist perspective
Working Class History: the history of the Balfour Declaration
Gaza Monologue 22 by Mahmud Abu Shaa'ban, born 1996, Al Remal, made by Birds of Paradise Theatre Company in response to a call from: https://www.ashtar-theatre.org/
And here some Instagram accounts you could follow (suggest others in comments also if you have other sources you’d recommend!):
You can also
sign the Arts Workers for Palestine Statementhttps://openletter.earth/arts-workers-for-palestine-scotland-statement-05a21f35
see the BDS list of companies to boycott (with a nice easy guide on which to prioritise and why if thats useful)https://bdsmovement.net/get-involved/what-to-boycott
Templates and suggested wordings for writing to MPs and MSPshttps://www.scottishpsc.org.uk/solidarity/write-to-your-mps-msps-immediate-ceasefire-now
Comments