Please find below a statement from the Ambassador of Israel, Josef Livne:
[A] “Recent call for the government of New Zealand to deny or indeed revoke the visas for the Bat Sheva Dance Company, scheduled to take part in the New Zealand Art Festival should be rejected outright.
The so called spokespeople for the Palestinian cause simply bring home to New Zealand a sample of the incitement which has been an integral part of Palestinian propaganda. The call for boycott of an Israeli cultural group is another facet of the comprehensive warfare that is being launched against Israel. If one entertained the notion that even between adversaries there are some mutually accepted limitations, this abhorrent call for boycott only reminds us that reality is different. Only a couple of days ago, the world stopped to remember the victims of the Shoa, whose suffering started with similar calls for Boycott.
There is no need to identify with Israel in order to denounce this obscene initiative. One would expect that Patrons of the Art and Culture to raise their voices against this violation of their rights to enjoy an artistic event. In fact this is not only their concern. All those who uphold decency should unite around send a clear and unambiguous message to the proponents of this initiative: You crossed a red line!”
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