City Will Not Provide Finances for Events for BDS Musicians

Uwe Becker, the deputy mayor and city treasurer for Frankfurt, announced on Tuesday that artists who support the boycott campaign targeting the Jewish state are not welcome in Germany’s main municipal financial hub and festivals and organizations that support BDS face loss of city funds.

“It is important to stress that artists who support the antisemitic BDS movement are not welcome in Frankfurt,” said Becker. He added that “festivals or organizations risk possible city funds if they provide a platform in Frankfurt to supporters or support BDS.”

The Christian Democratic Union politician, Becker, who is widely considered one of the most pro-Israel politicians in Germany, responded to the re-invitation of the pro-BDS Scottish band Young Fathers by the  Ruhrtriennale festival in the city of Bochum last week. Becker said he wants to prevent that similar situation like Ruhrtriennale appears in Frankfurt.

The Ruhrtriennale’s Artistic Director Stefanie Carp said on June 13: “Regrettably, the Young Fathers have not distanced themselves from BDS. We explicitly do not conclude from this that the band is anti-Semitic, and, in this context, I consider it important to emphasise that criticism of the policy of the current Israeli government is not per se equivalent to anti-Semitism.”

She added that “However, the Ruhrtriennale distances itself in all forms from the BDS movement and wishes to have absolutely no connection with the campaign. We have therefore decided to cancel the concert. We regret this immensely, because the Young Fathers would have set an important tone in the programme of the Ruhrtriennale.”

Carp reversed her position on June 21. She said that “I wish to invite the Young Fathers again to the concert in Bochum on 18 August 2018 although I do not share their attitude to the BDS. I believe that we need to allow the different perspectives and narratives, because this openness is the dramaturgic credo of our programme. I therefore have to defend the freedom of the arts, and do not, under any circumstances, even indirectly, wish to exercise censorship.”

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