Press release


Bristol Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Contact: Margaret Jones – 07804 464 014



Palestine Demo at Bath Festival

Protesting Israel’s militaristic musicians

A storm of protest will greet the Jerusalem String Quartet when they perform at the Bath Assembly Rooms this Thursday. A demonstration, called by the Bristol branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, aims to highlight the Quartet’s links with the Israeli military.

Since 2007 the JSQ, justly admired around the world for their marvellous playing, have regularly performed for the Israeli Defence Force, the hated army that terrorises those living under their brutal occupation in the Palestinian lands.

The JSQ are proud of their role. Record labels and favourable reviews boast that they ‘enjoy the status of Distinguished IDF’, playing for the army several times a week when in Israel. In 2006 they attended nationalistic celebrations that another distinguished Israeli musician, Daniel Barenboim, boycotted in solidarity with the dispossessed Palestinians.

The performance at the Bath Music Festival is part of an Israeli state charm offensive. ‘People say we are the best ambassadors from Israel, and we are happy about that,’ one Quartet member has said. Israeli artists receiving state sponsorship sign contracts undertaking ‘to promote the policy interests of the State of Israel via culture and art.’

In 2009 the JSQ gets funding from the Israeli state to play around the world. Palestinian musicians and artists get no such favours. Instead they are blocked at every turn by the Israelis. ‘The double standard is mind-boggling,’ said a statement by hundreds of artists and film makers at last year’s International Film Festival in Toronto.

Said Ed Hill, of the Bristol branch of Palestine Solidarity, ‘People coming here for the concert may be unaware that these musicians regularly perform for a brutal army of illegal occupation. They get Israeli government funding to make the Israeli state look good around the world, hoping that people will enjoy the music and forget about the violations of human rights.’

‘This will be a peaceful demonstration. We’re simply asking everyone to write to the Israeli embassy and demand the same rights of freedom of movement enjoyed by these Israelis, for all Palestinian musicians and for Palestinians generally – an end to checkpoints, curfews, closures, land seizures, home demolitions and arbitrary detention, including detention of children.’
Bristol Palestine Solidarity Campaign