Tunisian watchdog: BDS campaign against Jewish comedian is anti-Semitism
Michel Boujenah, a French Jewish standup artist has been defended by the Tunisian Association for Support of Minorities
A Tunisian watchdog group on racism accused promoters of a boycott against Israel of anti-Semitism after they protested the invitation extended to a Jewish comedian to appear at a local festival.
The accusation Thursday by the Tunisian Association for Support of Minorities was over an open letter sent earlier this week to the Tunisian Ministry of Culture and the organisers of the annual Catharge Festival of music next month to protest the invitation extended by organisers to Michel Boujenah, a well-known Tunisia-born French Jewish standup artist.
The letter, authored by Tunisian activists of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, says that Boujenah, who often speaks lovingly of his native Tunisia during his shows, should not be allowed to perform because he is a Zionist.
Boujenah, who is not a citizen of Israel, has often spoken during interviews about his support for Israel, including during a 2009 talk with Gilles Sitruk, an organiser of interfaith delegations to Israel and writer.
“We Diaspora Jews have no qualms about declaring our admiration for Israel,” Boujenah said in that interview. “A justified admiration as the people to which I belong want peace more than anything.”
He also said: “I feel Jewish, French, Tunisian, Zionist and very close to Israel, as well as a supporter of a Palestinian state. In short, one big balagan,” the Hebrew-language word for “mess.”
Citing this interview and others, the BDS activists wrote in their request to officials and the organisers of the festival to cancel Boujenah’s participation: “No place for the Zionists, whatever their nationality, in our country and festivals.”
Yet Yamina Thabet, the president of the Tunisian Association for Support of Minorities, told the Tribune Juive Jewish newspaper in France that the activists are “cowardly taking anti-Jewish action.”
Calling for a boycott of Boujenah’s show “under the pretext of fighting Zionism is nothing but an anti-Jewish act. We know this is a Tunisian who has always spoken loud and clear about his attachment” to Tunisia, she added in the interview, which was published Thursday.
In 2009, another French-Jewish comedian, Gad Elamaleh, was forced to cancel a tour in Lebanon amid threats over his ethnicity. In 2014, Bernard-Henri Levy, a French Jewish philosopher and supporter of Israel, was greeted at Carthage Airport in Tunis by protesters who shouted “No to Zionist power in Tunisia” and “Get lost.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
