STATEMENT ON PALESTINE

As a new government sits for the first time the steering committee members of the National Campaign for the Arts wish to join in solidarity with artists and citizens across the world calling for an immediate and unequivocal permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an end to the illegal occupation and a cessation of the apartheid regime.

We recognise the vital importance of artists in a healthy and free society, and also now recognise the impossibility for Palestinian artists to live and work or even survive in the current conditions in Gaza and the West Bank.

We also acknowledge the many arts-led grassroots campaigns that have emerged in Ireland and applaud the efforts and collective spirit of our fellow art community in supporting the Palestinian people in the face of these events.

We ask for the full support of those agencies doing vital work to bring food and humanitarian medical aid to the people there. There can be no art without humanity.

The steering committee requests that the government join in supporting the BDS movement, specifically calling for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel until it complies with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights and to enact the Occupied Territories Bill as soon as possible.