![\"MAYUMANA](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/719732.jpeg\"\/)
MAYUMANA DANCE TROUPE performs at the 2009 Israel Prize award ceremony, Jerusalem. (credit: FLASH90)<\/p>\nBoaz Berman founded dance troupe Mayumana in 1996. The troupe mixes rhythm, music, and dance and has had many successful partnerships with other dance groups, performing all over the world. Until recently, that is.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter Oct. 7, we had groups that didn\u2019t want to work with us anymore,\u201d explains Berman. \u201cWe used to work in Spain a lot. Everyone knew us. We formed a partnership with a Spanish cast and production. Suddenly, they refused to continue working with anything that connects them with Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey asked us to publish that we support Palestine, and when we answered that we don\u2019t mix politics \u2013 we do art \u2013 they dissolved the affiliation. They said they cannot work with us anymore.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was a big blow,\u201d he adds. \u201cWe have been working with people from all over the world \u2013 Spain, South America, and Australia. Political opinions should not be a part of the show.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berman is, unfortunately, not the only artist being affected by what is a \u201cnot so silent\u201d boycott of Israel. Artists and academics interviewed for this article confirm that no matter what their politics are, Israelis from many different arenas are being affected.<\/p>\n
MAYUMANA DANCE TROUPE performs at the 2009 Israel Prize award ceremony, Jerusalem. (credit: FLASH90)<\/p>\n
One academic, who asked not to be named, questioned whether writing an article about the boycotts might actually do more harm than good.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more we talk about it, the more friends and colleagues we lose,\u201d he warns. \u201cResearchers refuse to publish with us. Submissions from Israelis are rejected in the arts and humanities, even the sciences. We are at the lowest point in these vicious boycotts if the war continues.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone who cooperates with you is a brave person,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIsrael is a damaged product, persona non grata. Fewer and fewer people are invited to European events and affiliations,\u201d he states.<\/p>\n
But if we ignore these boycotts, how will we ever be able to address the situation? How can we encourage young people to go into the arts, music, and sciences? Which is why, after speaking to this academic, I decided: \u201cThe article must go on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Full disclosure: As an author who has hit walls while pitching my book and screenplay about a woman who \u201caccidentally\u201d joins the IDF, I had my own experience with rejection. An executive and former colleague at a motion picture studio advised me to \u201cshelve it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPrivate Benjamin does the IDF?\u201d she said. \u201cForget it. I can\u2019t sell anything pertaining to Israel these days. Put it away until the situation changes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several agents I reached out to confided that no publisher in their right mind will touch a novel with an Israeli hero or storyline these days.<\/p>\n
A well-known international publisher, who refused to go on record, told me she got serious \u201chate mail\u201d on social media after publishing a book by a hostage documenting his experiences of the Hamas-led mega-attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cArt used to be what brought us together,\u201d adds Berman, \u201cbut now they use the art platform to air their extreme political opinions. Now, if you have something that connects you to Israel, you are not considered a human being. Prior to Oct. 7, people were sending us offers. When they hear we are based in Tel Aviv, they refuse to talk to us anymore.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had demonstrations outside of theaters where we were performing overseas before,\u201d he continues. \u201cBack then, I went out and tried to talk to them. They told me that they didn\u2019t know why they were there, but they got paid 50 euros to stand there with a sign. Now it feels more dangerous. We feel hatred.\u201d<\/p>\n Michal Bar-Asher Siegal, a professor of Talmud and vice president of Global Engagement at Ben-Gurion University, is tasked with connecting the university with other academic institutions around the world. She oversees contracts for faculty and student exchanges.<\/p>\n She said only one-third of the agreements they had from two years ago are in effect today. Bar-Asher Siegal says she is doing the best she can to move things forward with her academic peers at other universities. \u201cThe State of Israel has to realize that this is a real danger,\u201d she says. \u201cIf Israeli academia gets shut down, scholars will leave Israel, doctors will leave. When scholars from one field leave, the entire field dies in Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the difficulties, some artists and professors are fighting the boycotts in various ways, working hard to bring Israeli messages and personalities to the world. But it isn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n Solutions to counter the hate<\/p>\n One solution, suggested by Dov Maimon, senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, is to play to Israel\u2019s supporters, the evangelists, the individuals and countries that already like us, instead of reaching out to the ones who hate.<\/p>\n \u201cJews want to be loved in the eyes of the other,\u201d explains Maimon. \u201cPeople don\u2019t love us. It\u2019s like a girlfriend who is just not that into you.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t need them. We must stop looking for love. It\u2019s a big sickness of the Diaspora. Some 800 million evangelists, Argentina, Panama \u2013 we have allies; we just must find a strategy to reach out to all our allies. The strength lies with us.\u201d<\/p>\n Bar-Asher Siegal says that the problem is that Israel, which was once considered to share European values, is no longer perceived that way.<\/p>\n What exactly are European values?<\/p>\n \u201cEuropean values are defined in the European Union agenda,\u201d Bar-Asher Siegal says. \u201cIt\u2019s about liberal and democratic views. Laws and proclamations made by this government go against these values.\u201d<\/p>\n Counters Maimon: \u201cEurope and Israel drew opposite lessons from the Holocaust. Europeans concluded that collective identities \u2013 nations, borders, religion \u2013 are dangerous. Their answer was to move beyond all that: fewer borders, post-national ideals, universal individual rights.<\/p>\n \u201cJews concluded the opposite: Minorities can\u2019t trust superpowers to defend them. A people without a state, an army, and sovereignty is defenseless. Israel was built on that lesson.<\/p>\n \u201cThe real question is whether Israel can afford the John Lennon \u2018Imagine\u2019 model in a region where our neighbors don\u2019t share those values. And frankly, these so-called \u201cEuropean values\u201d \u2013 secularized Christian values \u2013 are no longer working in Europe itself.<\/p>\n \u201cEuropeans see Israel as a mirror held up to their pacifist ideals. What reflects back horrifies them. Rather than question their model, they recoil, terrified of being contaminated by what Israel represents.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked about entertainers who may be planning to support Israel, Alon Amir, who has represented delegations at the Eurovision song contest, was concerned about a possible backlash. \u201cIt\u2019s a double-edged sword,\u201d he says. \u201cWe want to promote the people who support us \u2013 but we don\u2019t want to hurt them by exposing them to the hatemongers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe, as Israelis, know how to deal with it,\u201d he points out. \u201c[Others] may be caught off guard. It is important to show how much we appreciate their support.\u201d<\/p>\n He mentions that Anne Marie David, who won Eurovision for Luxembourg in 1973, is scheduled to perform in Israel on May 14 in Nazareth with the Ra\u2019anana Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n Appreciate that it takes a certain mettle on their part to side with Israel when the rest of the world is against us. The supporters who love us must be stoic and brave to face the backlash that comes with taking our side. Jews and Israelis should show them our love.<\/p>\n Berman says, \u201cArgentina is the only place I don\u2019t feel any hate. We are trying to do something local with them. There were major terror attacks there, but the president is a huge supporter.\u201d This, he says, makes all the difference.<\/p>\n Since people who used to be in touch don\u2019t want to connect anymore, Berman says his dance troupe is focusing on working more locally. \u201cHopefully, things will turn around, and we can tour again, even though for now, internationally, it doesn\u2019t look good.\u201d<\/p>\n Winning the culture war\u00a0<\/p>\n The Creative Community for Peace (CCFP), a nonprofit, promotes the arts as a means to peace, to support artistic freedom, and believes in artists and their ability to affect lives and effect change.<\/p>\n It was founded by David Renzer, CEO and former chairman of Universal Music Publishing Group, together with David Shnur, the worldwide executive and music president of Electronic Arts. The board of the group is made up of independent entertainment executives. The CCFP advisory board is global, with members from many countries, including Spain and Germany.<\/p>\n According to Ari Ingel, entertainment attorney, music manager, and executive director of CCFP, artists are particularly \u201csoft targets,\u201d as they are frequently active on social media \u2013 engaged with fans and vulnerable to threats of boycotts, unlike business moguls like the CEO of Unilever or Coca-Cola, who aren\u2019t engaging with fans online.<\/p>\n Boycotts have been around for years, notes Ingel. When CCFP was formed, entertainers signing to do shows were getting bombarded with demands to cancel. But, he says, the campaigns have become louder and more aggressive. Social media amplifies the noise and creates a threatening atmosphere for anyone who dares to voice a pro-Israel opinion.<\/p>\n He says that these are coordinated campaigns designed to silence any artist who positively stands up for Israel. When a favorable or supportive comment for Israel is made, a large, willing, and well-funded activist community uses bots, trolls, and fake accounts to counter the pro-Israel comment, to commandeer the usually massive social media account of the celebrity.<\/p>\n Anti-Zionist or antisemitic?<\/p>\n He cites Pink as an example. The singer made pro-Israel statements and was promptly attacked by the BDS crowds on social media, who commandeered her influential feed as a bully pulpit. \u201cLater, when she wrote on her status, \u2018Happy Hanukkah,\u2019 they overran her social media. And this is how \u2018anti-Zionist\u2019 rhetoric shifted to antisemitism.\u201d<\/p>\n As I write this article, I receive news that a planned benefit concert to raise funds for victims of the antisemitic shooting attack on Sydney\u2019s Bondi Beach<\/a> has been canceled. The event was scrapped after a majority of the 50-member Australian Hellenic Choir voted against performing alongside the Sydney Jewish Choral Society.<\/p>\n Many members cited political objections to sharing the stage with the Jewish choir, while others said they did not feel safe participating in a joint performance with Jews. Note, they said \u201cwith Jews\u201d \u2013 not \u201cwith Israelis.\u201d<\/p>\n The Venice Biennale, often called the \u201cOlympics of the art world,\u201d is one of the world\u2019s oldest and most prestigious contemporary art exhibitions. Founded in 1895 and held in Venice, the art biennale alternates every other year with the Architecture Biennale. This week, it was announced that the international jury for the 61st Venice Biennale (2026) ruled that Israel and Russia are ineligible for its top prizes, including the prestigious Golden Lion for Best National Pavilion.<\/p>\n The jury stated it will not consider works from countries whose leaders face charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court. While the statement did not name specific countries, the rule effectively applies to Israel and Russia. Critics argue the measure does not go far enough, as they continue to demand the full exclusion of both nations\u2019 pavilions. Israel\u2019s representative has objected, calling the policy discriminatory.<\/p>\n The three pillars of the CCFP are to counter the cultural boycott of Israel; counter antisemitism; and build bridges, not between the vocal activists but among groups that may be misinformed and reflect the messaging of activists who have no understanding of the issues.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t change every mind, but we can change the people who are willing to learn, engage, and make changes,\u201d Ingel says.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are actually only a small minority of activists who are very loud,\u201d he notes. \u201cThe large, silent majority doesn\u2019t harbor ill will toward Israel. Activists obsessively post. As for the anti-Zionist Jewish community \u2013 they make it seem like there\u2019s a 50\/50 divide, but over 88% support Israel\u2019s right to exist as a Jewish state. The anti-Zionist Jewish community is less than 10%.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I talk to universities that want to shut us down, I put time and effort into explaining that boycotting academia is the stupidest thing you can do,\u201d she says. \u201cWe have Arab students sitting beside Jewish students. By canceling programs, they are damaging coexistence. They hurt the people who would benefit from it the most.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"BANNED](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/719733.jpeg\"\/)
BANNED FROM Venice Biennale: Central Pavilion\u2019s colorful facade. The celebrated art festival\u2019s international jury resigned over Israel\u2019s and Russia\u2019s participation in the event, which is set to open May 9 with contemporary art from 99 nations. (credit: SHUTTERSTOCK)<\/p>\n