Just hours before it is set to begin, dozens of acts are withdrawing from the prestigious Sydney Festival in protest of the event’s sponsorship by the Israeli Embassy. One group that has chosen to do so are Melbourne-based musicians Karate Boogaloo, who explained that:
Boycotts and divestments have a strong track record of holding governments and corporations accountable for their actions, which is why Karate Boogaloo is standing in solidarity with Palestinian people and boycotting the Sydney Festival, as a result of it accepting money from the human rights-abusing regime that is the Israeli Government.
The boycott has proven to be a public-relations disaster for Israel, which attempts to use the arts as a way to launder its image across much of the developed world. Today, Lowkey sits down to talk to two of the boycott’s organizers, Sara Saleh and Jennine Khalik. Saleh is a poet and organizer. The daughter of migrants from Palestine, Egypt and Georgia, she is also the co-editor of the book “Arab, Australian, Other: Stories on Race and Identity.” Khalik is a journalist who has worked for ABC News and The Australian. Like Saleh, she is the daughter of Palestinian refugees.
The Sydney Festival is one of the most established and iconic cultural celebrations Australia has to offer, inviting a huge range of artists and performers from around the world. Yet it caused major controversy after accepting sponsorship from the Israeli Embassy. Saleh accused the festival of being complicit in “art washing” Israeli atrocities, asking Lowkey:
How is it that this festival can reconcile its shallow commitment to First Nations solidarity here [in Australia] while legitimizing and normalizing its relationship with a settler-colonial Apartheid state that we know maintains a system of subjugation and land theft against Palestinians?
Australia is one of Israel’s closest international allies, purchasing Israeli weaponry and voting against international condemnations of its conduct at the United Nations. Khalik explained that simply being Palestinian is a major road block to a successful career in some fields, including hers. Almost immediately after she was hired at The Australian (a national newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch), her editor was accosted by Israeli diplomats who demanded an answer to why they had hired a Palestinian.
Khalik said it was made patently clear by some of her colleagues that she was not welcome in the newsroom because of her ethnicity and her political stances. However, she persevered because:
The MintPress podcast, “The Watchdog, ” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, _closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.
_ * _Lowkey_* is a British-Iraqi hip-hop artist, academic and political campaigner. As a musician, he has collaborated with the Arctic Monkeys, Wretch 32, Immortal Technique and Akala. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Racial Justice Network and The Peace and Justice Project, founded by Jeremy Corbyn. He has spoken and performed on platforms from the Oxford Union to the Royal Albert Hall and Glastonbury. His latest album, Soundtrack To The Struggle 2, featured Noam Chomsky and Frankie Boyle and has been streamed millions of times.