Paprika joins the PACBI Movement

Paprika Theatre is joining a coalition of 18 performing arts organizations across Canada in endorsing the Palestinian call for the boycott of institutions that are complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation and ongoing genocide in Palestine.

Today, we announced Paprika’s endorsement of PACBI alongside X other Canadian performing arts organizations. Whether you’ve heard of PACBI or not, we as Paprika staff want to provide some context for this decision, and more information about how artists and arts organizations can join us in our efforts to protect the rights of Palestinian people. 

The staff and board at Paprika have put a lot of thought and careful consideration into this decision to endorse PACBI. At the end of the day, the decision came down to our desire for collective liberation for artists and people everywhere. We condemn all forms of racism, including anti-Palestinian racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism. We want to underline that criticizing a state is not antisemitic. We wholeheartedly oppose any actions and sentiments that discriminate against Jewish people, and recognize that antisemitism and the ethnic cleansing of Palestine both stem from white supremacy.

What is PACBI?

Since 2004, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) has organized with partners globally to end all forms of cultural and academic complicity with the Israeli apartheid state. 

PACBI is a founding member of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) National Committee and is endorsed by the majority of Palestinian cultural groups and artists. Inspired by the boycotts that led to the end of apartheid in South Africa, PACBI targets institutions not individuals, complicity not identity, and demands that Israel comply with international law. 

What does this mean for Paprika? 

By endorsing PACBI, we are committing to the following:

Boycotting cultural products and events commissioned by an official Israeli body or complicit institution
Boycotting normalization projects that assume that both colonizers and colonized are equally responsible for the “conflict”
Not collaborating with or accepting money from Israeli and complicit institutions

Israeli cultural institutions, unless proven otherwise, are complicit in maintaining the Israeli occupation and denial of basic Palestinian rights. PACBI has outlined two basic conditions that Israeli institutions must fulfill to become non-boycottable. You can read more about the PACBI guidelines at this link.

PACBI rejects the boycott of individuals based on their opinion or identity. Our efforts are focused on pressuring institutions to reject complicity in the Israeli government’s violations of international law. 

Here is a non-exhaustive list of what is not included in the PACBI guidelines:

Boycotting individuals (including family foundations, unless they become a spokesperson for the state)
“Secondary boycotts” (ie. boycotting organizations that receive funding from complicit institutions)

Why is Paprika participating in this boycott?

At Paprika, we believe in the power of art and artists to create social change. That’s why one of our listed goals is to “bring a generation of young leaders into our cultural industry as practitioners, social entrepreneurs and advocates for social change through art.” As we watched a genocide unfold, and witnessed how this colonial violence has affected members of Paprika’s community, we have been discussing and trying to find ways to “throw sand in the gears of genocide,” as eloquently stated by Palestinian poet Rasha Abdulhadi. Last season, this looked like holding a community read-in of The Gaza Monologues and collecting funds for Ashtar Theatre in Palestine.

We have witnessed the incredible courage of artists (many of them, emerging) as they speak up and fight back against institutions attempting to ignore and silence them — over 1,100 artists signed Theatre Artists for Palestinian Voices’ open letter calling for a ceasefire and condemning the censorship of Palestinian and allied artists, and over 400 signed Labour in the Arts’ open letter calling on performing arts institutions to condemn genocide. 

We can’t put it any better than it is said in the collective statement from the X organizations coming together to endorse PACBI:

“As performing artists, we know every choice tells a story, including silence. What do land acknowledgements or anti-racism statements mean if we refuse to speak out against genocide and apartheid in Palestine? 

An endorsement of PACBI holds ourselves and our organizations accountable. It is an act of solidarity that extends beyond other important strategies, like representation. Cultural boycott expands and acknowledges the role artists have in shaping society.”

What now?

This conversation has inspired the Paprika leadership and Board of Directors to work towards an ethical fundraising policy. We’re still working on first steps, but we will share more on this topic in the future.

We are honoured to be in community with the many artists that are using their platform to advocate for collective liberation. If you are looking for ways to get involved and add your voice, consider speaking to organizations that you are in relationship with about endorsing PACBI. If you are interested to learn more, please contact theatre4palestinianvoices@gmail.com or pacbi@wawog.com. 

Sincerely,

Amanda Lin (Artistic Producer)

Julia Dickson (General Manager)

Rosalind Goodwin (Associate Festival Producer)

Juliet Jones-Rodney (Communications Producer)

Aaheli Mukherjee (Production Manager)

The Paprika Festival Board of Directors