Leading artists with ties to New York have expressed their support for the cultural boycott of Israel in a new video from campaign group Adalah-NY: The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel.

The video features actor Kathleen Chalfant; musician Roger Waters, a founding member of Pink Floyd; musicians Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe of TV On The Radio; musicians Kool A.D. and Tamar-kali; artist and author of Drawing Blood, Molly Crabapple; and visual artist Swoon.

The eight recount the hardships that Israel imposes on Palestinian artists, and the history of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people. They explain the Palestinian boycott call, and why they endorse a cultural boycott.

The video marks the launch of a New York-based initiative calling for more artists and cultural workers in New York, the US and around the world to pledge to respect and support the Palestinian boycott call.

Artists in the video join a growing number of cultural workers who are heeding the boycott call from Palestine to refuse to do business as usual with Israel until it ends its occupation, apartheid and colonization.

According to campaigners, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Roger Waters, Elvis Costello, Santana, the late Gil-Scott Heron, Cassandra Wilson, Cat Power, Stevie Wonder, Talib Kweli, Mira Nair, Ken Loach, Alice Walker, Mike Leigh, Arundhati Roy, Jean-Luc Godard and many others have declined to perform or participate in cultural events in Israel or with institutions complicit in Israeli human rights abuses.

(MEMO. For more information see www.amplifypalestine.org.)