Artists demand the Koffler Centre divest from UJA, “Zionist” entities in Canada

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UJA Federation Photo: Facebook UJA Federation of Greater Toronto

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: boycottkoffler@gmail.com

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