Israel

Just days after Israeli commandos murdered at least nine unarmed people on the Free Gaza Flotilla and wounded many others, Joan Armatrading played in Tel Aviv, lining her pockets with blood money, and ignoring calls from the Palestinian people and supporters around the world to respect the boycott.

We call on Joan Armatrading, as a woman of colour who wrote a tribute to and performed for Nelson Mandela, and whose website says, “South Africa has always been close to my heart”, not to play Israel. As we write, people are gathering worldwide, thousands in London alone, to protest the Israeli piracy and murder of at least 20 unarmed people taking part in a humanitarian mission bringing aid to blockaded Gaza.

Dear International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) management and staff,

We write to protest IGLTA’s plan to hold a conference in Tel Aviv, Israel in October 2009 to promote LGBT tourism to Israel. We join with LGBT Palestinians and Israelis already protesting such a conference. As LGBT people, some of whom are Jewish, we demand with them that you reconsider and cancel your conference immediately.