"Boycott upcoming UMS presentation"
by Henry S. Herskovitz
Ann Arbor News (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
Tuesday February 03, 2009, 12:00 PM
http://www.mlive.com/opinion/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2009/02/middle_east_focus_letter_boyco.html
The final tally of Israel's massacre of Gaza has not been completed, but at least 1,312 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 434 children.
We as Americans must realize that we play a heavy role in this by not only politically supporting Israel, but by manufacturing and giving it the weapons used to kill and maim Palestinians, including the banned white phosphorous that Israel used with impunity.
Americans should also understand that while the killing has tapered off, the violence against Palestine continues. The illegal wall is violence; preventing people from receiving medical treatment is violence; holding weapons upon an unarmed civilian population is violence; ethnic cleansing and the practice of apartheid is violence.
We have a choice: either we wait until the next massacre occurs, then conduct street protests (we note that Zionist massacres happened well before statehood), or we can join the worldwide boycott against Israel. Part of this local effort involves supporting the Middle East Task Forces' call to boycott the upcoming University Musical Society's performance of the Batsheva Dance Company on Feb 14-15.
METF asks that we: Call, write, or send an e-letter to (UMS President) Ken Fischer and the UMS Board asking them to cancel the show (go to http://michiganpeacenetwork.org/eletters/); don't buy tickets to the show or any UMS show until UMS honors the boycott against Israel; if you already have tickets then exchange them for another show; and plan to join us outside to nonviolently protest the performances unless the UMS cancels them.
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