Ahead of the #WorldCup, we're co-hosting an expert panel w/ @PSCupdates to discuss #sportswashing by human rights abusing states, including apartheid Israel, & how to support those resisting repression.
The #sportswashing panel will be chaired by Shireen Ahmed, a multi-platform sports journalist, a TEDx speaker, mentor, and an award-winning sports activist who focuses on the intersections of racism and misogyny in sports.
Speakers include: Abdullah Al-Arian, a professor of modern Middle East history and editor of the recently published Football in the Middle East: State, Society, and the Beautiful Game. He is also editor of the Critical Currents in Islam page on the Jadaliyya e-zine.
Also joining the panel is Jules Boykoff, author of five books on the Olympics, including Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics. He teaches politics and writing at Pacific University in Oregon, USA.
The #sportswashing panel will also include Aya Khattab, a Palestinian footballer who plays for the Palestine women’s national team.
And Nicholas McGeehan, a founding director of FairSquare. He is an investigator and leading advocate on migrant workers’ rights. He was a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch for five years, where he conducted research and advocacy on a wide range of rights issues.
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.@Disney's Snow White features Gal Gadot as the evil queen.
Gadot has consistently acted as a cultural ambassador for Israel, even hosting screenings of an Israeli military propaganda film that seeks to justify its live-streamed genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.
By choosing to directly represent genocidal Israel, Gal Gadot’s films are boycottable. BDS targets institutions, not individuals. Where individuals represent Israel, their activities are subject to the institutional criteria of the BDS movement.
We deeply appreciate that lead actor Rachel Zegler has publicly expressed support for Palestinian liberation, but that is not sufficient to undo the harm done by the inclusion of Israel's cultural ambassador, Gadot, in the film.
Academy members are among more than 100 film workers calling on the Oscars to drop Gal Gadot from the ceremony. forms.gle/E7QUdghy45xJbD…
In an open letter, prominent figures including Deepa Mehta, Mira Nair and Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir say that "the Academy must take a firm stance against complicity in oppression."
"Gadot has openly and repeatedly expressed her support for Israel's military actions against Palestinians," which is "especially troubling in light of the International Court of Justice’s determination that there is a plausible case for genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza.
You might want to check with PUMA, adidas, and Erreà before going ahead with the Israel Football Association sponsorship.
Sincerely,
BDS
ps: #BoycottReebok
@Reebok PUMA, following a 5-year global boycott campaign, leaked news in December 2023 that it would not renew its contract with the IFA in a clear response to the boycott and to distance its brand from Israel's #GazaGenocide and underlying apartheid regime.
@Reebok adidas, did not renew its contract with the IFA in 2018, following a global campaign led by Palestinian sports teams and the delivery of 16,000 signatures to its headquarters.
The Berlin International Film Festival remains deeply complicit in the German government’s partnership in Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Under massive pressure from filmmakers, organisers, and audiences, Berlinale just published long statements trying to do damage control – but failed to meet our campaign’s demands.
Meanwhile, filmmakers continue to withdraw from the festival and alternative, genocide-free festivals are popping up all over the city, showing the depth of support for boycotting Berlinale.
Palestinians call to boycott @CaptainAmerica: Brave New World, @Disney's Snow White movie, @DisneyPlus subscriptions, and @Marvel merchandise!
Captain America: Brave New World, released this week, is reviving the anti-Palestinian racist character of Sabra AKA Ruth Bat-Seraph, who since appearing in Marvel comics in the 1980s has represented the Israeli government and occupation forces.
As Palestinian film & arts orgs said: "by reviving this racist character in any form, Marvel is promoting Israel’s brutal oppression of Palestinians." Marvel & Disney are complicit in "Israeli propaganda & the glorification of settler-colonial violence against Indigenous people."
Palestinians call for the boycott of #Berlinale 2025
The Berlin International Film Festival is complicit in the German government’s partnership in Israel’s genocide in Gaza and fails to protect filmmakers standing in solidarity with Palestinians.
PACBI calls for the boycott of Berlinale 2025 due to its complicity in Israel’s genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.
PACBI is a founding member of the BDS National Committee, the largest Palestinian coalition leading the global BDS movement.
Echoing the call and demands of international film workers & Berlin-based activists, PACBI urges all participants, including filmmakers, jury members, industry members & all others to withdraw from Berlinale to avoid artwashing the German state’s partnership in Israel’s genocide.