Hundreds of artists and arts organizations have signed a petition calling on the Koffler Centre of the Arts to divest and severe ties with the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) Federation that strives “to preserve and strengthen the quality of Jewish life in Greater Toronto, Canada, Israel and around the world through philanthropic, volunteer and professional leadership.”
On May 25, 2021 the Koffler Centre of the Arts tweeted:
The Koffler has received the joint letter from artists raising concerns about our organization and funding relationships. We take the views of the artistic community seriously, and are engaging in internal dialogue about how to address the issues raised and provide a response.
Here is the text of the petition signed by Canadian artists and arts organizations:
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) calls for all artists, cultural workers, and cultural organizations to boycott and/or refuse work with Israel’s cultural organizations and lobby groups. As the PACBI campaign states: “Israel overtly uses culture as a form of propaganda to whitewash or justify its regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid over the Palestinian people.” Following the PACBI directives that have demonstrable success and material effects, to show solidarity with the Palestinian people, and with the goal of ending the violent and horrific Israeli occupation of Palestine—we invite artists, authors, cultural workers, and cultural organizations to boycott the Koffler Centre of the Arts in Toronto, Canada, until the demands of this statement are met.
While the Koffler has shifted to a social justice mandate, presenting work that is critical of settler colonialism and working with numerous racialized and politicized artists and organizations, this has not been extended to the Palestinian context. This is artwashing, in service of obfuscating its relationships to funders that uphold Israeli apartheid, namely the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) Federation.
The UJA Federation funds Koffler programming. It is an international organization that provides social services to the Jewish community and has explicitly Zionist goals. The UJA supports mass immigration to Israel. This Zionist strategy affords all Jews the right to Israeli citizenship, while Palestinian refugees are denied the right to return home. As stated on the UJA’s website, one of their other objectives is to aggressively undermine Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) solidarity activism: “In particular, combating the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) on college and university campuses will be a key focus of our efforts.”
The Koffler also has a history of silencing anti-Zionist artists who support Palestine. In 2009, the Koffler publicly dissociated themselves from the Jewish artist Radiodress (Orev Reena Katz), after having worked together on an extensive exhibition for over a year, because the artist expressed anti-Zionist views on their personal Facebook account by endorsing Israeli Apartheid Week. (At the time, the Koffler was an agency of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto.)
The Koffler publicized their statement on cutting ties with the artist to their partners and Jewish community members, essentially ending the exhibition and poisoning the relationships the Jewish artist had with their community. Although the artist explicitly stated “I have said that I’m an anti-Zionist Jew,” the Koffler doubled down in its statement: “Zionism is the realization of Israel as a Jewish state. When one makes statements calling for the end of Zionism, one is making a statement about the end of Israel as a Jewish state.”
In that statement, the Koffler falsely conflates the violent settler colonial ideology of Zionism with the Jewish people’s self determination.
A search through the Koffler’s forty-four exhibition history shows only one instance where they presented work by a Palestinian artist, in a group digital publication in 2020. Other than that one instance, they haven’t shown any work by a Palestinian artist, nor any other work that is explicitly critical of Zionism. For an organization whose mandate is “to value and foster social justice, equality and inclusivity,” the absence of Palestinian narratives within its programming, or of critiques of the Zionist settler colonial movement, sends a clear statement on who deserves justice and equality and who doesn’t.
Statement of solidarity:
In solidarity with Palestinians who have called for a boycott of cultural institutions that promote acceptance of Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestine, we the undersigned make a public commitment not to show at, collaborate with, or participate in any events taking place at the Koffler Centre of the Arts.
We will uphold this pledge until the Koffler Centre of the Arts fulfils all of the following demands:
- Divests from the UJA and other explicitly Zionist organizations that undermine the Palestinian struggle for freedom
- Acknowledges the ongoing harm caused by its complicity in Zionist artwashing
- Publicly states that it will no longer discriminate against artists with anti-Zionist politics and expresses support for the decolonization of Palestine
In accordance with the guidelines of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), we call on artists and cultural workers everywhere to observe this collective refusal.
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
If you would like to add your name to this list, please email: [email protected]
Individuals:
Alessandra Abballe
Hiba Abdallah
Terrence Abrahams
Ibrahim Abusitta
Andrea Actis
Kieran Adams
Misbah Ahmed
Iain Ailles
Saba Akhtar
Mina Akida
Ambihai Akilan
Mitchell Akiyama
Tina Zafreen Alam
Jahsway Alaniz
Noor Alé
Mona Ali
Ahmed Alkoka
Sami Alwani
Yasmin Aly
Basil AlZeri
Pardiss Amerian
Faraz Anoushahpour
Parastoo Anoushahpour
Aeman Ansari
Jade Armstrong
Jacqui Arntfield
Nasim Asgari
Fady Ashour
Magdalyn Asimakis
Ghazaleh Avarzamani
Nedda Baba
Shelly Bahl
Claudine Baltazar
Sharlene Bamboat
Marya Bangash
Alana Bartol
Emily Barton
Christina Battle
Mubashir Baweja
Madelyne Beckles
Kat Benedict
Vida Beyer
Alyssa Bistonath
Sarah-Tai Black
Susan Blight
sarah bodri
Kiera Boult
Xenia Benivolski
Yuula Benivolski
Ron Benner
Adriana Berardini
Jeff Bierk
Nicholas Bierk
Eva Birhanu
Nour Bishouty
Jalil Bokhari
Navaporn Boonmasiri
Amanda Boulos
Maegan Broadhurst
B Brookbank
Nicholas Brown
Valentin Brown
Vanessa Brown
Jac Renée Bruneau
Kristine Buerano
Phu Bui
Hannah Bullock
Allison Burda
Lex Burgoyne
Bill Burns
Imani Busby
Andrew Buszchak
Angel Callander
Jennifer Carvalho
Rebecca Casalino
David Caterini
Sajida Chagpar
Riaz Charania
Hannia Cheng
Victoria Cheong
Mahdi Chowdhury
Michelle Cieloszczyk
Michele Pearson Clarke
Miles Collyer
Katherine Connell
Elora Crawford
Andrea Creamer
Amina Creighton-Kelly
Erica Cristobal
Adrienne Crossman
Rachel Crummey
Patrick Cruz
Jesse Cumming
Thirza Cuthand
Kari Cwynar
Gabi Dao
Benjamin de Boer
Samuel de Lange
Michael Deforge
Elsa Delage
Roya DelSol
Laura Demers
Yannick Desranleau
Sanjit Dhillon
Camila Diaz-Varela
Krish Dineshkumar
Idil Djafer
Ralitsa Doncheva
Petrija Dos Santos
Claudia Edwards
Amelia Ehrhardt
Eshrat Erfanian
Tammer El-Sheikh
Azza El Siddique
Rah Eleh
Leanne Elizabeth
Azadeh Elmizadeh
Scott Everingham
Serena Lee Everingham
Shirin Fahimi
Fadel Fakhouri
Mitra Fakhrashrafi
Leila Fatemi
Holly Fedida
Megan Feheley
Dallas Fellini
Ryan Ferko
Louie Fermor
Eva Fernández Ojeda
Sonya Filman
Emily Fitzpatrick
Genevieve Flavelle
Brendan Flanagan
Pete Florentini
Juliane Foronda
Sylvie Fortin
Morris Fox
Jason Fox
Kandis Friesen
Sara Funk
Marisa Gallemit
Rebecca Garrett
Corinn Gerber
Nilou Ghaemi
Jana Ghalayini
Julie Gibb
Tobin Gibson
Megan Gnanasihamany
Vanessa Godden
Nadia Gohar
Samir Gokhul
Mike Goldby
Talia Golland
Beau Gomez
Alyssa Goodman
Ayumi Goto
Francisco-Fernando Granados
Celia Green
Claire Greenshaw
Hannah Guinan
Freda Guttman
k.g. Guttman
Samra Habib
Amanda Abdel Hadi
Lamis Haggag
Greta Hamilton
Maeve Hanna
Zain Ali Haneef
Brileigh Hardcastle
Claire Harvie
Alison Hendra
Julia Hendrickson
Emily Hill
Eli Hirtle
SF Ho
Aryen Hoekstra
Esmé Hogeveen
Madeleine Hope-Fraser
sheena hoszko
Julian Hou
Lucy Howe
Jamelie Hassan
Oliver Husain
Julia Huynh
Onyeka Igwe
Luis Jacob
Alex Jacobs-Blum
Jessica Jang
Edwin Janzen
Tashnim Jerin
Brannavy Jeyasundaram
Camille Jodoin-Eng
Aisha Sasha John
Joyce Joumaa
Kablusiak
Paul Kajander
Maya Kamal
Abedar Kamgari
Adrienne Kammerer
Laurie Kang
Nafisa Kaptownwala
Jessica Karuhanga
Parker Kay
Nika Khanjani
Luna Khods
Akbar Khatir
Areum Kim
Enna Kim
Natalie King
Ruilan King
Adam Kinner
Mary Kirkpatrick
Brendan George Ko
Kate Kolberg
Zahra Komeylian
Jacob Korczynski
Matthew Koudys
Wafa Ktaech
Nadia Kurd
Miyako Kurihashi
Kohila Kurunathan
HaeAhn Kwon
Patrick Kyle
Braden Labonté
Tiziana La Melia
Christopher Lacroix
Jennifer Laflamme
Lee Lai
Amy Lam
Tristram Lansdowne
Ginette Lapalme
Lauren Lavery
Missy LeBlanc
Cameron Lee
Jane Lee
Katie Lee
Su-Ying Lee
Max Lester
Wenting Li
Chelsey Lichtman
Oslavia Linares
Erin Logan
Gareth Long
Joni Low
Jamiyla Lowe
Eunice Luk
Chloë Lum
Morris Lum
Alvin Luong
Marvin Luvualu
Phillip Ly
Clara Lynas
Rowan Lynch
Annie MacDonell
Mickey Mackenna
Luke Maddaford
Hailey Mah
Sameen Mahboubi
Anna Malla
Fabien Maltais-Bayda
Nahed Mansour
Jenine Marsh
Maria Isabel Martinez
Hugh Mater
Pamila Matharu
Maddy Mathews
Emerson Maxwell
Fraser McCallum
Dan Cardinal McCartney
Laura McCoy
Kyle McCrea
Jonathan J McCurley
Robin Alex McDonald
Abby McGuane
Jesse McKee
Emma McKenna
Zephyr McKenna
Paula McLean
Chandra Melting Tallow
Immony Men
Chris Mendoza
Sonali Menezes
Sofia Mesa
Jonathan Middleton
Tricia Middleton
Darby Milbrath
Bria Miller
scott miller berry
Alexander Millington
Isabel Mink
Olia Mishchenko
Anupa Mistry
Alexis Mitchell
Haley Mlotek
Maryam Monadi
Kate Monro
John Monteith
Julie Moon
Monica Moraru
Gabriel Moreau
Peter Morin
Khadijah Morley
Ella Morton
Bridget Moser
Gabrielle Moser
Nadia Moss
Olivia Mossuto
Soledad Fatima Muñoz
Christian Muñoz Morrison
Aamna Muzaffar
Zinnia Naqvi
Alicia Nauta
Petrina Ng
Rana Nazzal
Rehab Nazzal
Yasmeen Nematt Alla
Yahn Nemirovsky
Bahar Noorizadeh
Sylvia Nowak
Philip Ocampo
Robert Anthony O’Halloran
Ananya Ohri
Sean O’Neill
Sophia Oppel
Scott Osborne
Abdi Osman
Aliya Pabani
Andrew James Paterson
Carrie Perreault
Cleopatria Peterson
Danica Pinteric
Cadence Planthara
Cotey Pope
Alison Postma
Leila Pourtavaf
Dana Prieto
Ali S. Qadeer
Radiodress
Mahshid Rafiei
Sadiah Rahman
Amrit Randay
Chris Randle
Elise Rasmussen
Em Ratkovsky
Jocelyn Reynolds
Heather Rigg
Mehrnaz Rohbakhsh
Camille Rojas
Laura Rojas
Jamie Ross
Daniel Rotsztain
Chelsea Rozansky
Vince Rozario
Lauren Runions
Aseman Sabet
Melina Sabeti-Mehr
Sophie Sabet
jes sachse
Arezu Salamzadeh
Jayce Salloum
Daniella Sanader
Leah Sandals
Aman Sandhu
Sarah Sarofim
Simon Schlesinger
Tiffany Schofield
Seth Scriver
Morgan Sears-Williams
Lea Rose Sebastianis
Meera Sethi
Angela Shackel
Farihah Aliyah Shah
Bronte Shamata-Gardner
Bhavika Sharma
Sid Sharp
Cason Sharpe
Brittany Shepherd
Kim Simon
Robin Simpson
Christian Siroyt
Lisa Deanne Smith
Margaux Smith
Lisa Smolkin
Tabban Soleimani
Florencia Sosa Rey
Anni Spadafora
Genne Speers
Danielle St-Amour
Brian St. Denis
Brett Story
Hannah Strauss
Rowena Tam
Swapnaa Tamhane
Jordan Tannahill
Shaheer Tarar
Erdem Taşdelen
Sarah May Taylor
Polina Teif
Laura Tibi
Paul Tjepkema
Toleen Touq
Naty Tremblay
Carolyn Tso
Diana Lynn VanderMeulen
Indu Vashist
Krys Verrall
Uma Vespaziani
Joshua Vettivelu
Cathryn Virginia
Justin Seiji Waddell
Ellyn Walker
Ema Walters
Dylan Watts
Meichen Waxer
Emma Welch
Emma White
Jayne Wilkinson
Christopher Willes
Jordan Wilson
Amy Wong
Annie Wong
Joy Wong
Stephanie Wong Ken
Chris Worden
Jacob Wren
Joy Xiang
Florence Yee
Kendra Yee
Merna Yousef
Isabel Zaw-Tun
Shellie Zhang
Alize Zorlutuna
Institutions and organizations:
Art Metropole, Toronto
Bunker 2, Toronto
Cassandra Cassandra Gallery, Toronto
CFMDC, Toronto
Chinatown Biennial, Toronto
CUE Art Projects, Toronto
Dead Projects collective, Toronto
Femme Art Review, Toronto
Gendai Gallery, Toronto
Hearth, Toronto
IC Contemporary, Toronto
The Khyber Centre for the Arts, Halifax
ma ma art space, Toronto
Peripheral Review, Toronto
Pumice Raft, Toronto
SAVAC (South Asian Visual Arts Centre), Toronto
shell projects, Toronto
Silverfish Magazine, Toronto
The Table artist run project space, Toronto
Tea Base Community Arts Space, Toronto
Whippersnapper Gallery, Toronto
Wildseed Centre For Art and Activism, Toronto
Unit 17, Vancouver
Xpace Cultural Centre, Toronto