rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/petition/dont-play-apartheid-israel?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-petition-area-dont-play-apartheid-israel' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> Adalah Justice Project https://actionnetwork.org/groups/adalah-justice-project https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/petitions/photos/000/361/035/normal/bigthiefbanner.jpeg We are grateful that the indie band Big Thief has cancelled their concerts in Israel. Their fans were dismayed when Big Thief announced they would be playing two shows in Tel Aviv in July 2022. We were saddened that the band would cross the Palestinian picket line that calls on artists to boycott Israel until it stops its crimes against the Palestinian people. Big Thief’s performances would have inevitably been seen as supporting Israeli government policies and actions. These include often daily killing of Palestinian children, women and men; demolition of Palestinian homes; and seizing Palestinians’ land to expand illegal Israeli settlements. There is a global consensus that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid as defined under international law against the Palestinian people. Tel Aviv itself, where Big Thief planned to perform, was founded on the ruins of Palestinian villages such as Manshiyya and Salama, whose residents were driven from their homes in 1948 and have remained refugees since. The Tel Aviv venue that the band had selected for its concerts, Barby, grotesquely endorsed the Israeli government’s deadly attacks on besieged Gaza in 2014 which killed more than 2,200 Palestinians, including over 500 children. Barby proudly celebrated the murder of those Palestinian children by honoring the soldiers who carried out the brutal assault with a gift of free Barby tshirts saying “Fuck You. We’re from Israel.” Barby did this on the same day that an Israeli airstrike killed 16 Palestinians sheltering in a UN school in Gaza. Join us to tell Big Thief we welcome their decision to not play for apartheid Israel. Big Thief recognized where the higher ground lies and honored the Palestinian demand for boycott of Israel. Big Thief has followed the lead of hundreds of other principled musicians to honor the Palestinian picket line. May they be followed by hundreds more UNTIL PALESTINE IS FREE. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/dont-play-apartheid-israel