A wide coalition of solidarity groups are asking a hip-hop star not to perform in Israel because of its on-going apartheid-like rule over the Palestinian territories.  American rapper Snoop Dogg, Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr., is scheduled to perform in Ramat Gan, Israel on September 18th, 2008.  Progressive Israelis and Palestinians are writing letters to the performer requesting he cancel his show and express solidarity with the movement to  boycott Israel.  He is yet to respond.  Similar past requests by these activists had mixed results.

Snoop Dogg has been a staple of the rap scene since the early 1990s.  He rose to the national scene when he worked with Dr. Dre and Death Row Records.  Since then he has become an internationally-known star.

Activists contacting him are hoping he has sympathies with the Palestinian people.  One of Snoop’s friends and long-time musical collaborators, Fredwreck, is a Palestinian-American with ties to Flint, as well.  An article in LA Weekly in 2005 relayed  conversations between Fredwreck and Snoop about Palestine.   In one recollection, Snoop asked him about the apartheid wall and expressed criticism towards it. 

Despite the stereotype, some mega-star rappers like Snoop pay attention to world events.

At the forefront of the campaign to contact artists performing in Israel is the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).  The Ramallah-based group was launched in April 2004.  Its founders include Palestinian academics and intellectuals inspired by the growing international boycott movement.  PACBI has since become a leading group calling for international isolation of Israel.

In their letter to Snoop, they expressed the sentiments of the Palestinian arts community, saying it “was deeply saddened and surprised by the news of your upcoming performance in Israel.”  The letter urged Snoop to cancel his performance until Israel terminates its belligerent occupation and complies with international law.

PACBI also highlighted the struggles of Palestinian rappers and musicians in the occupied Palestinian territory. “They,” according to the letter, “are often denied their right to travel, sometimes even within the occupied Palestinian territory; many are denied access to festivals; and some are imprisoned, injured or killed by the occupation forces.”

They pointed out that Palestinian rappers from “besieged Gaza” would not be allowed to attend the concert.   

This strategy mimics the 1980s campaign in which “conscientious artists the world over boycotted South African apartheid.”

A group of Israeli activists who support a global boycott of Israel said in their letter, “We will not be able to attend your upcoming show in Tel Aviv this September.”  They appealed to Snoop’s “strong sense of political justice, and acknowledgment of the dangerous racist powers to be.”

They reminded Snoop that “a growing mass of international artists” are deciding against performing in Israel.  They recently pressured Bjork, Bono, The Rolling Stones, and filmmakers such as Jean Luc Godard.  Some of them quietly canceled, some cited other reasons.  The South African Nobel Laureate writer Nadime Gordimer is another notable figure who declined a visit.

A cultural boycott of Israel has not seemed to run into the same controversies as the attempted academic boycotts have.  When British professors led the drive to end academic relations with Israeli institutions, it caused massive fissures in academia and some disagreement within Palestinian solidarity camps.  The cultural boycott movement does not rub against any principles such as academic freedom.

How far this campaign will go and how successful it will be is a matter of winning over artists of Snoop’s caliber.   While many artists are inherently progressive, boycott movements such as this still face an uphill battle.  Still, it is a refreshing break from the tired paths of non-resistance employed by the Palestinian Authority and the dreamers quietly waiting for the two-state solution.

Visit www.PACBI.org.