LETTER TO DIRECTOR OF CAAM
Stephen Gong
Executive Director
Center for Asian American Media

Dear Mr. Gong:

The US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI), and the
undersigned groups and individuals, are deeply dismayed and disappointed that
CAAM is sponsoring the Israel China film festival on June 26-28 at the San Francisco
Public Library, as part of the Israel-China Festival this year.

CAAM’s official partnership in this program with the Israeli consulate, and thus with
the Israeli government, is extremely troubling. It implies CAAM’s endorsement of
the Israeli state’s illegal military occupation, annexation of land, home demolitions,
and collective punishment and displacement of Palestinians, all of which have been
condemned globally and in hundreds of UN resolutions. Israel has inflicted military
assaults on Palestinians using brutal and disproportionate violence and illegal
chemical weapons, such as during the massacre in Gaza in 2008-09 that killed 1400
Palestinians. Israel has constructed a Wall that not only restricts Palestinian life
and livelihood and divides families but has also annexed Palestinian lands; the Wall
has been deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice. Israel has enacted
systemic and often legally sanctioned discrimination against its Palestinian citizens
because they are non-Jews, leading Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and
many other international human rights activists to liken Israeli policies to those
of apartheid; for some, they are even worse than those of apartheid South Africa.
Israel continues to deny hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees their right
of return as enshrined in international law. Israel’s violations of human rights are
simply too many to recount in a brief summary. However, they are by now well
documented and increasingly challenged by the growing boycott, divestment, and
sanctions (BDS) movement around the world and in the U.S., one that is supported
by leading artists and intellectuals of diverse backgrounds.
If you are not aware of the BDS movement, it is not too late for CAAM to join
this global struggle for human rights. Palestinian civil society has called on the
international community to engage in an academic and cultural boycott of Israel:

“Given that hundreds of UN resolutions have condemned Israel’s colonial
and discriminatory policies as illegal and called for immediate, adequate and
effective remedies, and Given that all forms of international intervention and
peace-making have until now failed to convince or force Israel to comply
with humanitarian law, to respect fundamental human rights and to end its
occupation and oppression of the people of Palestine, and In view of the fact
that people of conscience in the international community have historically
shouldered the moral responsibility to fight injustice, as exemplified in the
struggle to abolish apartheid in South Africa through diverse forms of boycott,
divestment and sanctions” (www.pacbi.org).

The US Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) was founded in
response to this call from Palestinian civil society and was inspired by the
spirit of international solidarity, moral consistency, and resistance to injustice
and oppression. While those who attempt to silence critics of Israel often hurl
gratuitous accusation of anti-Semitism at any one who dares to challenge the Israeli
state, the boycott is an effective, antiracist campaign and will continue until Israel
ceases its violations of human rights.
USACBI opposes cultural programs that are sponsored by the Israeli state and are
increasingly used to whitewash Israel’s violations of international human rights and
war crimes and to legitimize its illegal occupation and apartheid practices.

In its attempt to undermine the rapidly expanding BDS movement, Israel has
resorted to the “
Brand Israel” campaign and has spent millions of dollars to improve its public image
through cultural programming and outreach to diverse communities. The CAAM
festival seems to be another example of this discredited propaganda campaign.
None of the featured films address the Israeli occupation nor racially discriminatory
and segregation policies that target Palestinians, nor indeed Palestinian experiences
in any form. There are by now many films that powerfully document the situation
on the ground in Israel, made by Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers. None of these
films are being shown at this festival. In fact, the festival seems to be an attempt
to evade an honest and open discussion of the reality of Israel and to forge an
alliance with the Chinese and Asian American community on the backs of silenced
Palestinians.
In addition, we are troubled by the self-professed attempt of the Israel China
Festival to co-opt Chinese and Asian American communities into celebrating
the “continued vitality” of two “global leaders” and the “remarkable economic nexus
which has formed between Israel, China and Silicon Valley,” erasing any discussion
of human rights abuses, labor exploitation, and occupation. While we do not oppose
the exploration of cultural traditions or common histories, we strongly object to
an alliance between Israel and China that is built on the censorship of histories of
settler colonialism or of occupation.

We strongly believe that Asian American community organizations and individuals
should stand in solidarity with those challenging occupation, apartheid, warfare,
and colonialism, and not engage in the normalizing of oppression. In addition,
we are deeply concerned about the partnership of Chinese American and Asian
American cultural organizations with an anti-Palestinian program, rather than with
antiracist and anticolonial projects that stand for social justice and human rights for
ALL.

We ask CAAM: will you take a principled stand against occupation, colonization, and
apartheid?

Signed,