Read letter in Maltese, English and Arabic here.

A number of Maltese organisations wrote a letter to Hon Rebecca Buttigieg, Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms and Equality, and to Allied Rainbow Communities, the organisers of the EuroPride, to express their disappointment and anger at the invitation that has been extended to Netta Barzilai to participate in the Malta EuroPride concert. This is because, they argued, this invitation goes against all the values that the Pride stands for.

The organisations do not want Netta Barzilai to come to Malta for this occasion because she is a supporter of the Israeli Apartheid state. Barzilai 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, the organisations said.

They claimed that 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 has regularly 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 (see here).

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, they argued.

Furthermore, the organisations claimed that it is not the first time that the Israeli state has blackmailed Palestinian LGBTIQ+ persons into forced collaboration to provide information about other Palestinians, under threat that their status will be revealed (see here as an example).

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, according to the organisations.

Consequently, Netta Barzilai is one of those persons who is targeted by the campaign, “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” called by the Palestinian civil society. 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 organisations asked for Netta Barzilai’s invitation to participate in the EuroPride concert to be revoked since 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, they concluded.

Organisations

Moviment Graffitti

aditus 

MGRM (Malta LGBTIQ+ Rights Movement)

HE Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, President Emeritus

Żminijietna – Voice of the Left

Numru ta’ għaqdiet Maltin bagħtu ittra lill-Onor Rebecca Buttigiet, Segretarju Parlamentari għar-Riformi u l-Ugwaljanza, u lill-Allied Rainbow Communities, l-organizzaturi tal-EuroPride, biex jesprimu d-diżappunt u r-rabja tagħhom għall-istedina li saret lil Netta Barzilai biex tipparteċipa fil-kunċert tal-EuroPride. Dan għaliex l-istedina ta’ Netta tmur kontra l-valuri kollha li tirrappreżenta l-Pride.

L-organizzazzjonijiet ma jridux lil Netta Barzilai tiġi Malta għal din l-okkażjoni għax din hija kantanta sostenitriċi tal-istat t’Apartheid Iżraeljan. Barzilai regolarment ipparteċipat fl-isforzi tal-istat Iżraeljan biex 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.

L-organizzazzjonijiet tennew li l-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 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 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 (ara hawn).

Mill-ħolqien tiegħu fl-1948, l-istat Iżraeljan għamel kull sforz sabiex ikeċċi lill-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, qalu l-organizzazzjonijiet.

Barra minn hekk, komplew jgħidu, l-istat Iżraeljan mhux l-ewwel darba li rrikatta persuni LGBTIQ+ Palestinjani li jikxifhom jekk ma jikkollaborawx miegħu u jipprovdulu informazzjoni dwar Palestinjani sħabhom (ara hawn bħala eżempju).

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, komplew l-għaqdiet.

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

L-organizzazzjoniet saħqu li l-istedina biex Netta Barzilai tipparteċipa fil-kunċert tal-EuroPride hawn Malta għandha tiġi revokata għaliex 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, temmew jgħidu.

L-għaqdiet firmatarji:

Moviment Graffitti

aditus 

MGRM (Malta LGBTIQ+ Rights Movement)

HE Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, President Emeritus

Żminijietna – Leħen ix-Xellug