“The [BDS] dogs bark, but [Israel’s] melody continues,” remarked Israel’s Consul General in New York after pro-boycott group tried to disrupt a Carnegie Hall performance by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
By: TPS
Anti-Israel protesters on Sunday attempted to disturb a performance by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York.
A few days prior to the performance, anti-Israel elements, led by the pro-BDS Adalah group, began to drum up support for the protest on social media.
Adalah (“Justice” in Arabic) describes itself as an independent human rights organization that protects the human rights of “Palestinians in Israel and in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”
Dozens of protesters heeded its call and demonstrated outside the concert.
The demonstrators said that Israeli cultural institutions should be boycotted, including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, “which is part of the Israeli apartheid regime.”
Dani Dayan, Israel’s Consul General in New York was present at the concert and commented that he was “proud of the arrival of the Philharmonic Orchestra in the United States. Israeli culture is sought throughout the world, it is the pride of Israel.”
Responding to the demonstration, he stated, “This is not the first time that extremist anti-Israeli elements have organized a protest against Israeli culture. No protest will stop Israeli culture from flourishing in Israel and abroad. The dogs bark and our melody continues.”
Proponents of boycotts of Israel, such as Adalah, claim that financial, academic and cultural sanctions against Israel are a nonviolent struggle against the so-called “Israeli occupation.”
Critics say their activities are a modern form of anti-Semitism and that their true objective is to destroy the State of Israel.