We made a difficult choice
This week, Universal Beatz presents U.S.-Mideast Hip Hop Exchange Week. During this week, we the students of Universal Beatz, will be bringing together Middle Eastern rappers and dancers with local hip-hop artists from the St. Louis community to the Washington University campus for a week of cross-cultural exchange, conversation and collaboration through the artistic medium of hip-hop. The week’s artists include: Y-Love and Diwon, OneVoiz, Khaled M, Tef Poe, Nato Caliph, Lavelle Spitz, iXiuxe and Nick Gates.
Last week, the St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee (STL-PSC) decided to boycott Universal Beatz’s event U.S.-Mideast Hip Hop Exchange Week on the grounds that Marvin Casey, the American-Israeli hip hop choreographer scheduled to participate, received funding for his hip-hop troupe, Tribe 13, from the Jewish Agency. While we do not endorse disinviting people, after a few other artists involved in the week expressed concern regarding Casey’s involvement in the week, and after evaluating the effects of this on our event, we have decided to withdraw our invitation. While we have withdrawn invitations to specific artists participating in our artistic exchange (In addition to Casey, STL-PSC members Sharif “the Truth” and BiRD were not re-invited after their decision to boycott.), we stress that EVERYBODY is welcome to attend any and all of our events throughout the course of the week.
Our group decided that the best way to keep our organization politically neutral in the matter is by physically representing neither side of this conflict. While this is extremely disappointing to our group, we think it is the best way to continue our original goal of bringing people together and exchanging culture through hip-hop to ultimately disband misconceptions between peoples of the U.S. and Middle East. By highlighting solely Palestinian or solely Israeli voices, we would inherently take on a political stance, which we feel would compromise the integrity of our event. We understand that hip-hop is often political in nature, and we would like to encourage and celebrate artistic expression of real issues. We, the members of Universal Beatz, do not want to bring up the topics of the discussion but rather allow our participating artists the free reign to let their ideas lead the conversation.
We realize that this compromise is not perfect, which is why we’re calling it compromise and not a solution. We are students doing the best we can to bring seldom-heard voices and perspectives to our campus and bring people together through hip-hop. It has been quite the struggle, which illustrates to us that this kind of exchange is all the more worthwhile. Thank you for understanding, and we hope to see you this week at U.S.-Mideast Hip Hop Exchange Week! You can check out our schedule of events on Facebook under Universal Beatz!
This is sad. What exactly is controversial about Mr. Casey receiving from from a legitimate Jewish organization? As the author admits, Marvin Casey was disinvited in an effort to salvage the event. If the Universal Beatz had any integrity they would have canceled the entire event or stood behind Mr. Casey.
If any of you have actually been to Israel or studied it, you will know that the Palestinians have been there for a fraction of the time that the Jews have been there, and that the only reason the Palestinians are stuck in Gaza is because none of the other Arab countries in the middle east take them in. Why wont these countries take in their brothers? Israel defenitely does. And which middle eastern countries does NOT stone women who are seen with other men? Answer: Israel. Which middle eastern society allows ALL religions to be practiced inside it, including Chrisianity and Islam???? Answer: Israel. To all haters out there, think a little before discriminating. HOw are you supporting cultures that force young girls to marry men decades their elder against their will? how are you supporting societies where women that try to drive and go to school get acid thrown on their faces???????
Thi, your comment here is a mixture of red herrings and inaccurate statements. Take it from someone who actually does study the Middle East that almost all of what you said above has no factual basis whatsoever.
If you want to know why we support Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel and the disinvitation of an Israeli cultural ambassador like Mr. Casey, please check out the well-argued op-ed here: http://www.studlife.com/forum/op-ed-submission/2011/04/15/we-support-the-disinvitation-of-marvin-casey-and-the-bds-movement/#comment-17804
Matt if you actually studied the Middle East you simply would not be spewing the hateul rhetoric that you are. As for your assertion that you went to Israel and it is definitely an apartheid state – you so blatantly have an agenda that you went to Israel looking only for evidence to support your position. I could make the same case about America being a Nazi nation if, like you, I went with my conclusion already drawn up and a map of where to find “evidence” to mischaracterize to support it.
I’m sorry, but Marvin Casey admits that the Jewish fund, the very fund that denies Palestinians their right of return, while giving foreigners a free ticket to the same land, has supported him. Just because he dances, it does not mean he’s any less complicit in the racism that the Jewish Fund happily partakes in. Keeping a blind eye to something wrong makes you just as guilty. Instead of pretending that both sides are equal in standing, let’s first learn to recognize that one side is an oppressive, occupying, apartheid government and the other other is under occupation. Just because some of you do no feel terrorized by the Israeli government, it does not mean they haven’t terrorized millions of Palestinians. Instead of pretending to be interested in dialogue, visit the occupied territories and tell me you aren’t witnessing apartheid. Maybe he should go see for himself if he’s really interested in seeing peace between both peoples. And maybe he should ask the people of “Arab descent” if they were once called Palestinians before his government made it impossible for them to claim as such.
Awesome points, Bre! Thank you. Also, be sure to check out the courageous op-ed by some Wash U undergrad and grad students in support of the disinvitation and BDS against Israel: http://www.studlife.com/forum/op-ed-submission/2011/04/15/we-support-the-disinvitation-of-marvin-casey-and-the-bds-movement/
Bre, the Jewish Agency in no way inhibits non-Jewish immigration. It just fails to actively support it, which is no crime. Consider how Italy extends citizenship offers. If your grandparent is a citizen of Italy, you may seek to automatically be extended Italian citizenship. Israel’s process is similar, though because of the extended period of time for which the Jewish state was under foreign occupation, a slightly different criteria for judging inherited citizenship claims had to be established. Being that the UN created the contemporary state to be a “Jewish” homeland, it seems entirely fair that the state was biased in favor Jews when developing a citizenship system.
Moreover, let us consider this supposed right of return. The Palestinians refused statehood in 1948, and numerous times since then. They have no full state, yet agitate actively for one. Israel is expected to dismantle itself and return to the green line, and then accept millions into the newly dwarfed Israeli state? Such a process would ensure what is already all too probable, which is that Israel’s Jewish identity will be fully extinguished in short order. And since the creation of modern Israel was intended as a remedy to safeguard the Jews from yet another genocide, that seems profoundly troubling to me.
Moreover, let us consider the conditions under which they fled. Israel’s neighbors vowed to destroy Israel and give the totality of the territory to the Palestinians. They temporarily vacated in support of this aim. That turns out to have been a bad bet. But, just as a casino doesn’t return your money when the house has a better blackjack hand, your enemy has no equivalent obligation either. And make no mistake about it, Israel and Palestine are enemies of one another, as evidenced by the persistent terrorism of the latter.
Bre…I’ve lived there the past 4 years now…ive never once said that Palestinians dont go through ALOT of crap on a daily basis…and you know what, before you judge me or someone else…learn your facts..because i have been to the territories, ive taught in the territories, worked with other dancers from the territories and Ive had multiple dialogues on this very subject…and anyone that knows me as a person would also know that never once turned a blind eye to what goes on there…but when youre so quick to blind yourself or others with what you simply see on the outside instead of talking to people and getting to know them as people and not “google articles” well then just maybe we can actually accomplish something. So please dont jump to assumptions or make conclusions about me and what my real motives are for wanting dialogue, because i havent done it to you. Nor have I put any words in your mouth, and i would appreciate it if didnt put them in mine… Never once have i said both sides are equal in standing, but in order to make that even possible, everyones got to be willing to come to the table and communicate…by the way…have you been to the territories? Have you worked on setting up any dialogues? Or are you sitting in your nice comfy house with Central AC and yelling at me cause it makes you feel better…Anyone else that has a problem with something they think they know about me is more then welcome to email me [email protected] for clarifications…it might make things easier than making assumptions.
Out of all of you calling Israel an “Apartheid State,” how many of you have actually been there? Yeah, that’s what I thought…..
I’ve been there. It’s an Apartheid State. It’s an oppressive, occupying government. Thanks for asking.
I’ve been there. Its most defenitely NOT an apartheid, “oppressive, occupying government.” They are accepting to all cultures, and the standard of living is the highest out of any other middle eastern country i’ve ever seen.
I too have been there, and yes, I have seen the horrors of the Apartheid policies live and in person.
In the words of South African anti-Apartheid leader Archbishop Desmond Tutu:
“I’ve been very deeply distressed in my visit to the Holy Land; it reminded me so much of what happened to us black people in South Africa. I have seen the humiliation of the Palestinians at checkpoints and roadblocks, suffering like us when young white police officers prevented us from moving about.”
Do you presume to know what Apartheid is better than Archbishop Desmond Tutu?
Here is a summary of a Human Sciences Research Council study commissioned by the South African government to determine if Apartheid applies to Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians: http://icahdusa.org/2010/03/is-israel-an-apartheid-state
I have been to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza and Israel is without a doubt an apartheid state.
& on that note… let me leave you with this video on how “israeli’s” treat their darker Jewish brothers & sisters… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n-y24SzbCY&feature=player_embedded
Anybody here making pro-”israeli” comments are are obviously supporters of the zionist nation. They constantly ignore the atrocities committed against the Palestinian people so you’re opinions are just that, opinions. Anybody with HALF a brain knows that the Palestinian have EVERY right to defend themselves against this aggression. Mr. Casey is a lost soul who’s just trying to gain acceptance in “israel.” But does he find acdeptance? No, he does not. He’s allowed to serve in the “israeli defense” forces to murder innocent Palestinian civilians, but what if he dies in “combat?” HE CAN’T EVEN BE BURIED IN THE COUNTRY HE DIED FOR!! What hypocrisy. He can’t get married there & I bet my bottom dollar he’s been a victim of racism while in “israel.” PEOPLE: YOU DO REALIZE THAT THE POLITICAL VIEWS OF YOUR PARENTS DO NOT HAVE TO BE YOURS!!! YOU ARE ALLOWED TO FORM YOUR OWN OPINIONS! That’s why you will NEVER find a Palestinian on ‘israel’s” side, but you have THOUSANDS of Jews all over the world who have stood & still stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
I don’t think you made necessarily a “difficult” decision inasmuch as you made a poor one. There was $12,799 of the Student Activities Fee. In an earlier article Beatz president Nicole Lopez said “We’re really trying to focus on this idea of building personal relationships…” – I think this just exacerbates the problem of “misconceptions” about the Middle-East that Lopez claimed we were trying to avoid. Misconceptions like the “apartheid” rhetoric being bandied about in this thread here. In reality, it isn’t apartheid.
The truth is that Israel is the only nation in the Middle East with complete religious freedom. The government is not a recognized terrorist organization like Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas in Gaza. There are Arabs and Non-Jews serving in the Knesset (parliament). While it is more than easy to attack Israel, it might be worth looking a bit deeper. Is Israel a perfect nation? No. Is brandishing pejorative rhetoric without actually giving examples useful to this discourse? No.
Consider the positions here. I think the biggest problem and what troubles me is the fact that our student activities fee was allocated to what started as a good event but has since evolved into discriminatory. He’s a musician, he receives money from lots of organizations. However now we’re simply using almost $13k in what has now become a highly political, non-multicutural, discriminatory event. I find the fact that our money via the student activity fee is being bullied into taking sides and to the detriment of one to be the largest problem. We’re actively supporting discrimination and intimidation through what was supposed to be a concert.
@ all…I am Marvin Casey, the artist that was supposed to participate. The issue at hand, is that my group recieved funding at its start, from the Jewish Agency because they liked the goal of our project, to use hip hop to bring people of all different backgrounds together through the medium. The sad part is that instead of contacting me to talk about it, assumptions were made and were allowed to run. In all honesty, if the fact that the Jewish Agency is a govn. body and we received funding from them is the main point of protest, then no Israeli native or immigrant, would ever have been able to take place in the conference. Think of it this way…not only does the Jewish agency give funding to almost all new immigrants to Israel but they also donate to different groups within Israel, there by including native Israelis as well. Now if we take into account that Israel has required Army/National service which is paid by the government, well then the entire country has at one point or another received payment from the government in one form or another. The simple fact is that although the The Jewish Agency did give us start up money, it really has no bearing as we have been from the start, a self-governing group. We have never been requested by the government in any way shape or form to perform for a particular group or to promote a particular message. We are free to do as we please and actually have people within the group that are in fact of Arab descent. Again, instead of striking up a dialogue and discussing the matter, which was the ultimate goal of the conference and one I was looking very forward to, assumptions were made, and thus the unfortunate situation at hand, with nobody gaining anything.
Palestinians have endured decades of “dialogue” and the “peace process,” but have received in turn only continued theft of their land and apartheid. in fact, the Israeli gov’t leadership actually likes to use these moments of “dialogue” and “peace process” to further expand the occupation of Palestine. on a more personally level, you have done contracting work with the Jewish Agency as a consultant/artist and accepted funds from an organization that actively works to further the Israeli occupation.
Very interesting that you put these terms in sarcastic quotations marks. Starting with the UN partition in 1948, the Palestinian authority has constantly REJECTED Israel’s overtures for peace. This effort to completely wipe out Israel began with the Palestinian and then greater Arab effort to defy the UN Partition plan and destroy Israel. When the smoke cleared, the Arab forces (who STARTED the conflict) were defeated.
NO peace deal will be 100% acceptable to both sides. But Israel has made numerous offers, including the 2000 Camp David Accords, when then-PM Ehud Barak offered Yasser Arafat 97% OF HIS DEMANDS! Arafat’s response: inciting the Second Intifada, which resulted in the needless deaths of hundreds of Israeli civilians.
The reason Marvin Casey was boycotted is very simple: he and his dance group are associated with a semi-governmental organization, called the Jewish Agency, which is involved in the illegal Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands and are involved in a PR campaign, called “Brand Israel,” that is trying to whitewash Israel’s public image. The Jewish Agency is a political organization, engaged in political acts on behalf of the state of Israel, and as such is boycottable on purely political grounds. It is not anti-semitic to oppose a state’s policies. Stop throwing that red herring into the debate over Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands.
exclusion of Israeli performers is nothing in comparison to the complete and utter exclusion of Palestinian voices, human rights, votes, dignity, civil rights, and humanity by the Israeli’s. and these are not seldom heard voices on one of the most Zionist campuses in the nation. it is the Palestinian voices that are not ever heard on the WUSTL campus, not the Israeli voices.
To Upbeatz – I applaud your original intent to bring performers together in a space of creativity and expression. It is evident that you were put in a very difficult position with no clear way out. That being said, your sole Israeli presence was silenced by the mere threat of boycott by numerous Palestinian voices of disunity and antagonism. Who was actually rewarded and who punished in the long run? It’s fair to say, the real losers are the would-be participants and audience of this conference, who missed out some talented people who would have created a real juncture to entertain, engage and interact. What a great opportunity was missed here to show people, on a very human and tangible level, the momentum and goodwill that can be created when governments, platforms, agencies, missions, etc. are set aside. Hopefully, next time, you will be better prepared and strong enough to address, and not cave to, hateful, spiteful and destructive rhetoric, no matter the source.
This is really, really disgusting. The Israeli guy has no problems performing with whomever, the other performers have a problem with the Israeli. So you chose to give the boot to the person who actually isn’t bigoted and does support multiculturalism as opposed to saying “thanks, but no thanks” to people who don’t like a guy because of where he comes from. It just doesn’t make sense.
–JM
Hi JM, a clarification: nobody is being boycotted because of where they are from. Israelis, Jews, everyone is welcome–but Universal Beatz should not provide a platform to a contractor of an official institution that practices discriminatory, apartheid practices like the Jewish Agency. Likewise, it would have been inappropriate to welcome someone with ties to the former Apartheid government in South Africa, but that wouldn’t be a boycott of White people. Hope that clarifies.
Oh stop with your pathetically distorted rhetoric. When an arts group receives government funding it does not make them “government contractors.” A government contractor is a company that does work or performs a service for the government. The decision by Universal Beatz was misguided. I understand that they are just college students who perhaps felt a little over their head, but it should be clear to them in retrospect that an outside group intimidated them and forced them to back down from and subvert their own stated goals and principles. I hope each individual member of the group has learned to never let that be done to them again.
Maybe I’m missing some background knowledge here, but is there some controversy about the “Jewish Agency” beyond the fact that it is, in fact, Jewish? It seems to me that an artist who is willing to boycott a cross-cultural exchange of middle eastern music just because an Israeli artist is attending really, in all fairness, has no business contributing to a “cross cultural exchange” to begin with.
Hi Russell, the Jewish Agency for Israel is boycottable because it practices discriminatory policies (illegally settling occupied land and denying non-Jews their basic human rights), not at all because it has the word Jewish in it.
Umm, the controversy lies in the fact that the ‘Jewish Agency’ actively participates in the illegal settlement of Palestinian land. Why do you conveniently leave that part out?
“EVERYBODY is welcome to attend any and all of our events throughout the course of the week.”
…That is, unless you’re from Israel.
The Palestine Solidarity Committee makes clear that the targets cultural boycott are not Israeli individuals or Jews in general. Marvin Casey was targeted because of his official relationship with an Israeli institution that supports discriminatory laws and practices inside Israel. http://www.stl-psc.org/?p=184
This is outrageous. Universal Beatz was awarded $12,799 to fund something multicultural in nature. And then you act to promote homogeneity by removing the one Israeli artist. Simply failing to pander to those non-Israeli artists who boycotted is not compromise, and does not represent a preservation of the original message. What you’ve done is turned an apolitical event into a bitterly political one.
As such, I will most certainly not attend any of the remaining events, interested as I previously was. And it is my fervant hope that your group is never again allocated SU funding.
I should add that though I do not intend to accuse Universal Beatz of as much, I think it is readily evident that the motivation behind those individuals who insisted on the exclusion of Israeli performers is anti-semitism:
http://calebposner.com/2011/04/13/multiculuturalism-anti-semitisms-new-mantel/
Hi Caleb, as a Jewish person, your claim that opposing discriminatory actions (like those of the Jewish Agency) is opposing Judaism or anti-Semitic is highly disturbing and offensive. There is absolutely nothing Jewish about denying non-Jews their basic rights, and to speak out is in the tradition of social justice that Jewish families like mine are very proud of.
Caleb, your charge of anti-Semitism is a red herring, and a poorly constructed and argued one at that. You claim that “the issue here is that simply being an Israeli renders one a villain by default in the eyes of these champions of multiculturalism.” Umm, not quite. The group protesting Casey’s involvement, and the BDS movement more generally, does NOT target actors simply because they are Israeli. Casey was targeted specifically because he is involved with the Jewish Agency, a distinctly political semi-governmental organization that participates in the illegal settlement of Palestinian territory. It’s quite convenient for you to ignore this tidbit, particularly when it’s the bedrock of the BDS movement’s founding principles. BDS has *never* purported to punish Israelis for being Israeli, but to economically punish individuals and groups that are directly involved in oppressing Palestinians.
Moreover, quoting an obscure British journalist as some sort of authority on anti-Semitism does very little to corroborate your point. Judaism has very little to do with what motivates the STL-PSC, or the BDS movement, or pro-Palestinian activism in general: it is the systematic oppression of the Palestinian people, which does indeed constitute a form of apartheid. Once again, your selective references are both unconvincing and intellectually dishonest, as the article you referenced is hardly representative of the ‘black community.’ Functionally ALL the major leaders of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa — Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, etc. — have *explicitly* referred to Israel as operating an apartheid state, perhaps even more discriminatory than South Africa. Yet in your article you have not one word to say about Israel’s discriminatory policies, or its land grabs, or about settler violence against unarmed Palestinians. Instead, your blog actively links to several invective-driven hate-sites (namely masada2000, a website run by supporters of the terrorist Rabbi Meir Kahane, whose party is deemed a terrorist group both in the US and in Israel) that *applaud* such indiscriminate settler violence against Palestinians. Why is that??
Dan, short of being Jewish, there is nothing controversial about the Jewish Agency. So I stand behind my statement.
Regard the British journalist I’ve cited, calling her obscure suggests that you have literally zero familiarity with the European media, as she is the best-known columnist in the UK.
Desmond Tutu’s anti-semitism is well established, as demonstrated here: http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2007/10/a_transcript_of.php
So you’ll have to excuse my decision not to cite him. Similarly, you’ll notice that I don’t defer to Mandela because, as the former leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, he was a terrorist.
As per your final question, the answer is simple. I don’t condemn Israel’s actions because its territory was won through defensive wars, and I fully respect its right to annex such lands and facilitate population transfer to preserve the integrity of the state.
Well put, Caleb.
Meir Kahane was also a terrorist, but you have no qualms about linking to a site propagated by his acolytes as an authoritative source on your blog. Double standard much?
Faciliate population transfer to preserve the integrity of the state? And remove Palestinians from their land? You sound like a genocidal maniac.
Bre, I think you fundamentally misunderstand the very exact language I chose. What I am advocating is non-violent, compensated population transfer. Incidentally, this is also what Kahane advocated.
Wustl student, or anonymous coward as I’d prefer to call you, my link to a website which endorses Kahane is fine, insofar as it specifically endorses his Israeli political platform. Kach, as a party, did not endorse violence. Masada2k endorses the platform previously advocated by Kach, and nothing more.
Caleb, to respond to your latest comment, both the Israeli government and the US government have declared the Kach party to be a terrorist organization. It is precisely the ideology spearheaded by Meir Kahane, moreover, that motivated his close confidant Baruch Goldstein to arbitrarily slaughter a cadre of Palestinians in Hebron for no reason. By the logic you’re employing (that Mandela’s previous associations make him a terrorist), then it *necessarily* follows that Kahane was a terrorist as well. So, your support of masada2k, and your more recent *explicit* support for Kahane, makes you a terrorist bedfellow. Once again, even the Israeli government considers Kahane a terrorist. So congratulations, you’re a terrorist sympathizer :)
Also, Kahane most certainly did *not* advocate ‘non-violent, compensated population transfer.’ He proposed financial compensation for Arabs willing to leave, and outright force for those who did not want to accept the money. In other words, he was an advocate of ethnic cleansing. And by extension, so are you for lending his movement your support.
For more on Kahane and his *explicit* support of violence and terrorism: http://www.cfr.org/israel/kach-kahane-chai-israel-extremists/p9178#p3
“Kahanists have also shot, stabbed, and thrown grenades at Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank. In cases where Kach and Kahane Chai have not themselves claimed responsibility for anti-Arab attacks, Kahane and his followers have declined to condemn such violence and have often glorified it.”
I’ll admit this isn’t an exhaustive account of Kahane’s direct ties to terrorism — this article doesn’t go into detail on the pamphlets Kach produces calling for violence against Arabs, for instance — but I refuse to spend any more precious time documenting what is self-evident. This is no different than someone expecting me to provide documented proof why Osama bin Laden or Timothy McVeigh were terrorists.
As for masada2k being nonviolent, let’s take a cursory glance for confirmation:
http://www.masada2000.org/list-B.html
The site publicly compiles a list of functionally every Jew on the planet that has made statements critical of Israel, as part of its “Self-Hating and/or Israel-Threatening” or “S.H.I.T” List, posting up information as detailed as e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and home addresses of the purported offenders in order to encourage their harassment by the site’s supporters. Non-violent and benign? Hardly.
Interesting bed-fellows you keep, Caleb… Let’s also keep in mind that masada2k has been repeatedly taken down by numerous ISPs for inciting violence against its detractors (notably through its S.H.I.T list), yet you continue to lend such nutcases, alongside Meir Kahane himself, your support. Keep it classy, friend :)