|
|
|
|
|
Creative Community for Peace (CCFP) is an organization of high-level entertainment executives founded to act as a counterforce to the organized effort to discourage, dissuade and hamper artists from performing in Israel. We do so in the name of artistic freedom and with the conviction that these boycotts are a form of censorship and discrimination.
CCFP works effectively behind the scenes with artists ranging from Mariah Carey to Matisyahu to accomplish our goals, namely:
- Provide artists and their representatives with balance to the discourse regarding the Arab-Israel conflict;
- Address why the cultural boycott is counterproductive and NOT helpful in creating a path to peace; and ultimately
- Ensure that artists continue their scheduled performances in Israel.
Over the past year CCFP has reached out to nearly all of the 233 artists scheduled to perform in Israel, and whom were receiving various degrees of boycott pressure. Despite all the calls to cancel, most performed as scheduled.
Following on our landmark CCFP and Friends Statement which was signed by over 300 prominent Hollywood actors, executives and other prominent players, CCFP recently partnered with a new UK organization, Culture for Coexistence, that gathered over 150 prominent UK artists (including JK Rowling, Simon Schama, Niall Ferguson and many others) who were willing to speak out against a cultural boycott of Israel.
While the Boycott Israel movement becomes more organized and more vocal – we have responded in kind by deepening our outreach, education and partnerships and standing up for freedom of expression and the democratic values we all cherish.
But we are fighting an uphill battle. There are hundreds of organizations and individuals working to promote a cultural boycott of Israel but we are the ONLY organization that is laser focused on countering the cultural boycott on a daily basis.
Challenges remain and to meet the demands we must grow our efforts. We are so pleased to share that we have been awarded a $100,000 matching grant by a private foundation to support our newly developed expansion plan. In order to receive the full amount of the grant we need to raise $200,000. Please help us reach our goal and grow our efforts to have a bigger presence and impact! Every dollar raised will be matched by half that amount, making your contribution go that much further. To find out more about CCFP and the grant, feel free to email us. We thank you in advance for your support.
|
|
|
CCFP EVENT
THE LEGACY OF BILL GRAHAM IS A HIT
|
|
|
On October 8th, we held our first event at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles called The Legacy of Bill Graham. The event was co-sponsored by The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, and brought music and entertainment industry executives together for a night of presentations, exhibit and connecting. Read more HERE.
|
|
|
|
CCFP WELCOMES NEW BOARD MEMBER RICK KRIM
|
|
|
CCFP is pleased to announce that Rick Krim, west coast president of Sony/ATV Publishing, has joined our Advisory Board. Rick is an important addition to our growing list of luminaries in the entertainment field. Previously, Krim was the former EVP of Artist Development at Universal’s Republic Records.
Welcome Aboard, Rick.
|
|
|
|
DEADLINE QUOTES CCFP
CO-FOUNDER DAVID RENZER
|
|
|
Major UK figures Hilary Mantel, Niall Ferguson and JK Rowling signed an open letter against the cultural boycott. The letter called the movement discriminatory and harms dialogue and the chances for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Deadline quoted CCFP co-founder David Renzer, "We are pleased to see prominent UK artists supporting the positive powers of the arts while at the same time not falling prey to many of the falsehoods and misinformation that have been spread by the Boycott Israel movement."
|
|
|
|
CCFP PROUD OF ITS ROLE IN THE MATISYAHU VICTORY:
IN HIS OWN WORDS: MUSIC WINS.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION WINS.
|
|
Reggae musician Matisyahu was ousted from Spain's Rototom Sunsplash Festival by organizers for not making a political statement on the Israel/Palestinian conflict. He called the cancellation appalling and offensive and as the one publicly Jewish-American artist scheduled for the festival they were trying to coerce me in political statements. After public backlash, organizers apologized and re-invited Matisyahu to play as originally scheduled, which he did. Read CCFP co-founders David Renzer and Steve Schnur's thoughts on the incident published in the Jewish Journal HERE.
|
|
|
|
JON BON JOVI DEDICATES NEW SONG
"WE DON'T RUN" TO ISRAEL
|
|
New Jersey born rocker and his band took the stage in front of 50,000 fans in Hayarkon Park. He announced that he's waited a long time to perform in Israel and introduced new song "We Don't Run" as a fight song for Tel Aviv. Roger Waters and other supporters of the Boycott Israel movement urged the band to cancel the concert, but Bon Jovi stood strong and said he couldn't care less. Read more HERE.
|
|
|
|
HOWARD STERN BLASTS ROGER WATERS FOR OPEN LETTER TO BON JOVI;
CCFP ADDRESSES WATERS CONTROVERSY
|
|
Howard Stern, a supporter of Israel, took issue with Roger Waters' open letter to Bon Jovi on his radio show. "If you feel Israel is a friend to the United States as I do, our only friend in the Middle East...if you believe that this is a country that certainly shouldn’t get sh*t from the Roger Waters’ of this world, then speak out. Don’t sit silently by when others will sit there and condemn and throw out words like apartheid…fight the power." Read why CCFP co-founders believe Roger Waters fails to sway musicians into boycotting Israel HERE.
|
|
|
|
MARIAH RETURNS TO ISRAEL FOR CONCERT AFTER INITIAL PRIVATE VISIT
|
|
|
Mariah Carey mesmerized fans at her concert in Israel last month. She even learned how to say I love you in Hebrew!
On the pressure to cancel she responded, "I did hear about it but I do what I want to do. I’ve always wanted to come here. I don’t care what other people’s political agendas are. She went on, I’m just an entertainer and I’m here. I’m happy to be here and I’m honored to be here."
|
|
|
|
NBA STARS TOUR ISRAEL LED BY ISRAELI OMRI CASSPI
|
|
|
The trip was part of Casspi's initiative, through his foundation, to fight the boycott Israel movement. The players toured historical and religious sites, as well as attended charity events scheduled by the National Basketball Association's global community outreach initiative, NBA Cares. The group included King's players and other stars from around the league.
Watch a video of the trip HERE.
|
|
|
|
BRAZILIAN ARTISTS PERFORM FOR PEACE
|
|
"Despite the pressures not to perform in Israel, we decided to because there is nothing more important than dialogue... we can build a bridge and promote a change that will lead to peace." - Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso on their performance and why they came to Israel. Read more HERE
|
|
|
|
JUANES PERFORMS FOR FANS AT
SOLD-OUT CONCERT
|
|
|
The Colombian superstar went to Instagram after his concert to share his experience; "Israel, a marvelous country with spectacular food, women with enchanting eyes, who are caring and very friendly."
|
|
|
|
GLORIA GAYNOR SINGS TO PRESIDENT PERES
|
|
Before the queen of disco's scheduled performance in Israel she stopped by the Peres Center for Peace for a little singing and prayer. She told Peres: "I love Israel and I am happy to be here, I believe music brings people together." Watch the video HERE.
|
|
|
|
CCFP EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS
|
|
SUZANNE VEGA
"I think the cultural boycott punishes people who make their living in the arts, both in Israel and [around the world]." Read more of our interview with the singer-songwriter HERE.
|
|
|
K'S CHOICE
"Israel has always provided us with the warmest welcome imaginable. We couldn’t believe how many fans we had and how excited they were to watch us play!" - K's Choice on their two sold-out shows. Watch our interview with the Belgian rock band HERE.
|
|
|
|
Israeli director Roy Zafrani of the internationally award-winning documentary about disabled children, "The Other Dreamers," was told by organizers of the Norwegian Human Rights Human Wrongs Festival that his work could not be shown unless the film was about "the illegal occupation, the blockade of Gaza or the discrimination of Palestinians."
Zafrani called the decision "absurd," saying, "I'm not a political man. I am not responsible for my government's actions." Read more HERE.
|
|
|
|
SEND MESSAGES OF SUPPORT TO ARTISTS SCHEDULED TO PERFORM IN ISRAEL
|
|
|
|
Enrique Iglesias added a second show in Tel Aviv due to demand, and will be performing in Tel Aviv on December 16 & December 22
COPY, PASTE, & POST this message on social media accounts of scheduled artists:
#Music knows no boundaries. Thank you for performing for your many fans in Israel! #play4peace @CCFPeace
Smokie (11/11), Heather Nova (11/11), Gojira (11/13), Emika (11/13), Fear Factory (11/13), Hiromi (11/16), Calexico (11/16-11/17), Purity Ring (11/18), Unknown Mortal Orchestra (11/18), Paradise Lost (11/19), Ibeyi (11/24), Enrique Iglesias (12/16, 12/22), Jerry Seinfeld (12/19), Justin Hayward (12/20), Alphaville (2/6), Alessandra Safina (2/18), Jethro Tull (2/25), Greg Dulli (2/27), Chris Cornell (5/6), Foreigner (6/14), Simply Red (6/14)
|
|
|
Creative Community for Peace (CCFP) is an organization comprised of prominent members of the entertainment industry who believe in the power of culture and the arts to build bridges and promote understanding and are opposed to the singling out of Israel for a cultural boycott. We work to provide balance to the discourse regarding the Middle East and promote the view that one of the best ways for artists to better understand the issues is to travel to the region and experience it for themselves. We believe in the power of our music, our films and our television programming, and in the democratic values we all cherish and that boycotts based on misinformation are not part of the solution.
LIKE us on Facebook
FOLLOW us on Twitter & Instagram
SIGN our Anti-Boycott Petition
SUPPORT us with a Donation
http://www.creativecommunityforpeace.com
Supporting Artistic Freedom. Building Bridges. Countering the Cultural Boycott of Israel.
|
|
|
|
We thank the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles for its generous
cutting edge grant that is allowing us to expand our work.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
