Irish arts group: ‘Reflect’ on Israel ties

An Irish arts academy passed a motion calling for Irish artists and cultural institutions to “reflect” before
cooperating with events or institutions sponsored by Israel. The motion at Aosdana on Wednesday was proposed at the behest of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity
Campaign, an anti-Israel group whose founder, composer Raymond Deane, belongs to
Aosdana. Deane’s earlier motion, calling for “non-cooperation,” was rejected by
the membership.
The Israeli Embassy issued a statement deploring the motion as “wrong,
unjust, biased and based on misunderstanding and misinformation.” Ambassador Zion Evrony said, “It appears that a very small number of Aosdana members, holding extremely
biased views against Israel, have misled others and imposed their views on the
whole organization.”
Some Aosdana members questioned whether the organization, which is funded
by the Irish government, should even be debating a political motion. The cultural boycott movement has some momentum in Ireland. Last summer,
Deane’s group succeeded in pressuring both the Irish Film Institute and a Dublin
culture festival to cancel Israeli sponsorship.