From the very first PRIDE held in Malta in 2004, Moviment Graffitti has always participated enthusiastically in this manifestation of freedom and solidarity which fights for a society where oppression is overcome and where love and equality win. We will be doing the same thing this year for EuroPride

It is exactly because the values of the PRIDE are so close to our hearts, that we are disappointed that a singer who supports the Israeli Apartheid state, Netta Barzilai, was invited to participate in the EuroPride concert.

The fact that Netta Barzilai happens to be an Israeli citizen is not the reason why she should not have been invited for this concert. Nobody should be penalised because one is a citizen of one country or other. However, Netta Barzilai is a person who has regularly participated in the efforts of the Israeli state to cover the oppression, the killings, and the systematic expulsion of Palestinians from their own land, and to project itself as a “free” and “democratic” state – all pinkwashing initiatives. 

Netta Barzilai has often participated in initiatives organised by the Israeli state outside Israel, in initiatives that celebrate the banishment of Palestinians from their homeland, and in concerts of the far right. According to her, the bad reputation of the Israeli state on the international scene is simply a question of “bad PR” and not because of its politics of terror (https://shorturl.at/dILMO).

Consequently, Netta Barzilai is one of those persons who is targeted by the campaign, “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” called by the Palestinian civil society. 

Since its inception in 1948, the Israeli state has done everything in its power to push Palestinians away from their land. Palestinians have been massacred in their thousands, and thousands have been evicted from their homes.  They saw their fields and their water being stolen, their olive trees burned, the torture in Israeli prisons and the continuous cruelty of occupation that seeks to humiliate them with every step they take.  Today, Palestinians are confined to live in less than 20% of the land where they used to live – partly on the Gaza strip, which is bombarded regularly by the Israeli army, and partly in the West Bank, where Israeli illegal settlements continue to spread at a fast pace through the terrorisation of Palestinian villages and the violent seizure of Palestinian land.  

All this is not being done by some isolated group operating from inside Israel. This is the systematic politics of the Israeli state itself. Israel uses all the means at its disposal to choke Palestinians, including cultural tools such as Netta Barzilai to wash away its bloodied image on the international stage. 

In the same way that in the nineties, the Apartheid regime in South Africa came to an end following international boycotts and sanctions, Palestinian civil society wants the world to put pressure on the Apartheid state of Israel by means of boycotts and sanctions against all those that in one way or another are accomplices in its actions. 

The principles of equality and freedom are not a menu from which one chooses at will. It is a huge contradiction that a manifestation such as the PRIDE, that is supposed to celebrate love and equality, embraces personalities who are accomplices in the racism, killings and ethnic cleansing of the Apartheid state of Israel. 

Netta Barzilai should not participate in a concert celebrating freedom. Our call should be against all forms of oppression, anywhere it happens and regardless of who is being oppressed.  

Kontra Kull Oppressjoni 

Mill-ewwel PRIDE f’Malta fl-2004 il-Moviment Graffitti dejjem ipparteċipa bi ħġaru f’din il-manifestazzjoni ta’ libertà u solidarjetà li tissielet għal soċjetà fejn tingħeleb l-oppressjoni u jirbħu l-imħabba u l-ugwaljanza. L-istess ser inkunu qed nagħmlu fil-EuroPride ta’ din is-sena. 

Iżda propju għaliex il-valuri tal-PRIDE huma tant għal qalbna, ninsabu diżappuntanti ferm li l-kantanta sostenitriċi tal-istat t’Apartheid Iżraeljan, Netta Barzilai, ġiet mistiedna tipparteċipa fil-kunċert tal-EuroPride.

Il-fatt li Netta Barzilai inzertat ċittadina Iżraeljana mhijiex ir-raġuni għaliex ma kellhiex tiġi mistiedna għal dan il-kunċert. Ħadd m’għandu jiġi penalizzat għaliex huwa ċittadin ta’ xi pajjiż jew ieħor. Iżda Netta Barzilai hija persuna li regolarment ipparteċipat fl-isforzi tal-istat Iżraeljan li jgħatti l-oppressjoni, il-qtil u t-tkeċċija sistematika tal-Palestinjani minn arthom, u biex ipinġi lilu nnifsu bħala stat “liberu” u “demoratiku” – sforzi ta’ pinkwashing.

Netta Barzilai ta’ spiss ħadet sehem f’inizjattivi organizzati mill-istat Iżraeljan barra mill-Iżrael, f’inizjattivi li jiċċeleberaw it-tkeċċija tal-Palestinjani minn arthom, u f’kunċerti għal persuni tal-lemin estrem. Skontha, il-fama ħażina li għandu l-istat Iżraeljan fuq livell internazzjonali hija biss kwistjoni ta’ “bad PR” u mhux tal-politika qattiela tiegħu (https://shorturl.at/dILMO).

Għalhekk Netta Barzilai hija waħda mill-persuni fil-mira tal-kampanja “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” imsejħa mis-soċjetà ċivili Palestinjana.

Mill-ħolqien tiegħu fl-1948, l-istat Iżraeljan għamel kull sforz sabiex ikeċċi lil Palestinjani minn arthom. Il-Palestinjani ġew immassakrati bl-eluf u mwaddba barra minn djarhom. Huma raw l-għelieqi u l-ilma tagħhom misruqa, is-siġar taż-żebbuġ maħruqa, it-tortura fil-ħabsijiet Iżraeljani u l-ħruxija ma taqta’ xejn ta’ okkupazzjoni li tfittex li tumiljahom ma’ kull pass li jagħmlu. Illum il-Palestinjani spiċċaw ristretti jgħixu f’inqas minn 20% tal-art li kienu jgħixu fiha – parti minnhom fl-istrixxa ta’ Gaża, li tiġi regolarment ibbumbardjata mill-armata Iżraeljana, u parti oħra fix-Xatt tal-Punent fejn insedjamenti (settlements) illegali Iżraeljani qegħdin jinxterdu b’rata mgħaġġla billi jitterrorizzaw l-irħula Palestinjani u jaħtfu bil-vjolenza l-artijiet tagħhom.

Dan kollu mhuwiex isir minn xi grupp iżolat li jopera minn ġewwa l-Iżrael, iżda huwa l-politika sistematika tal-istat Iżraeljan innifsu. L-Iżrael juża l-għodda kollha li għandu sabiex jifga lill-Palestinjani, inkluż għodod kulturali bħal Netta Barzilai li jaħslu l-immaġini mdemmija tiegħu fuq livell internazzjonali.

Bl-istess mod kif fid-disgħinijiet ir-reġim t’Apartheid fl-Afrika t’Isfel ġie fi tmiemu wara bojkottaġġ u sanzjonijiet internazzjonali, is-soċjetà ċivili Palestinjana trid li d-dinja titfa’ pressjoni fuq l-istat t’Apartheid Iżraeljan permezz ta’ bojkottaġġ u sanzjonijiet kontra dawk kollha li b’xi mod jew ieħor huma kompliċi fl-azzjonijiet tiegħu.

Il-prinċipji tal-ugwaljanza u l-libertà mhumiex menù li tagħżel minnu dak li trid. Hija kontradizzjoni kbira li manifestazzjoni bħall-PRIDE, li suppost tiċċelebra l-imħabba u l-ugwaljanza, tilqa’ fi ħdanha personalitaijiet li huma kompliċi fir-razziżmu, fil-qtil u fit-tindif etniku tal-istat t’Apartheid Iżraeljan.

Netta Barzilai m’għandhiex tipparteċipa f’kunċert li qed jiċċelebra l-libertà. L-għajta tagħna għandha tkun kontra kull forma t’oppressjoni – tkun fejn tkun, issir fuq min issir.