Several American, English, and French singers have pulled out of Berlin’s Pop Kultur Festival due to the event’s partnership with the city’s Cultural Department of the Embassy of Israel, the Middle East Monitor reported.
French singer Lafawndah withdrew from this week’s Pop-Kultur Festival shortly before the start of the pop culture festival on Wednesday, after condemning the organizer’s support for racism, colonial brutality, and murder.
In her courageous and very detailed withdrawal statement from @popkulturberlin, @lafawndah_ cites @amnesty, @hrw, and the Israeli human rights organization @btselem, who all issued reports about Israel’s #apartheid regime.
⬇️ Here is our Lafawndah #ReadingList 🤓📚✊🏽🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/DU8NSwOHEc
— Boycott Pop-Kultur Festival (@BoycottPKBerlin) August 25, 2022
In addition to expressing support for reports authored by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Israeli human rights organization, B’Tselem, which slammed Israel as an apartheid regime, Lafawndah said in a statement that “Palestinian artists and activists, many Jewish organizations around the world, Israeli artists and Berlin-based queer activists have all urged Pop-Kultur participants to cancel their appearances.”
“Just last week, Israel admitted killing five Palestinian children with an airstrike, including four children from a single family,” she added.
“In its three-day assault, Israel killed 47+ Palestinians in Gaza. By continuing its partnership with Israel, Pop-Kultur knowingly whitewashes these crimes. The Festival’s stance is an effective show of support for racism, colonial brutality and murder, despite its savvy marketing language, touting inclusion, diversity and tolerance.”
Lafawndah also accused the Festival organizers of “concealing” the event’s connection with the Israeli embassy, writing: “The fact that Pop-Kultur had concealed this partnership as recently as three weeks ago is a source of profound frustration for myself and I am sure many other artists.”
Alewya gets straight to the point in her statement withdrawing from @popkulturberlin. Solidarity is every day. Solidarity is precious. Thank you, Alewya.#popkultur #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/gsNPDBNQ1s
— Boycott Pop-Kultur Festival (@BoycottPKBerlin) August 26, 2022
Following next was the UK singer-songwriter Alewya, known for her trap music, who also canceled her participation due to the event’s partnership with Israel.
She wrote on her Instagram story, “Free Palestine. every. F***g. Day. Until it is done.”
Additional artists who have also pulled out from the event include Parisian musician, Franky Gogo, and the singer, Trustfall, who had been due to perform alongside Lafawndah.
(MEMO, PC, SOCIAL)
