Activists Withdraw From Africa’s ‘Biggest Street Art Festival’ Over Zionist Ties

CAPE TOWN (Middle East Eye) – At least two headliners have withdrawn from Africa’s biggest street art festival in Cape Town over the organizer’s ties to the Zionist regime’s embassy in South Africa, activists with the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) coalition in the country say.

A spokesperson for the BDS coalition told Middle East Eye on Tuesday that Ismail Mahomed, the director of the Center for Creative Arts in Durban; and Mike van Graan, a notable South African playwright, pulled out of the first National Public Arts Conference scheduled to start on Wednesday in parallel with the festival.
According to activists, Baz-Art, the company which organizes the International Public Arts Festival (IPAF), now in its sixth year, refused to end its partnership with the embassy.
Activists say the company has worked closely with the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) in bringing Zionist artists to the festival to create giant murals across the city.
According to the Salt River Heritage Society (SRHS), a community group based in Cape Town, Baz-Art hosted the Zionist artist Nir Peled, also known as Pilpeled, in 2020, and the Brothers of Light (Elna and Gab) in 2018.
In a statement, South Africa’s BDS coalition welcomed the withdrawal of Mahomed and van Graan and called on Baz-Art to stop receiving sponsorship from the occupying regime.
The coalition further urged “the City of Cape Town Metro, the Western Cape Provincial Government and the national Department of Sport, Arts and Culture to withdraw their support for Baz-Art and adhere to government pronouncements in support of Palestine.”
“What better time is there for Baz-Art and the cultural community in South Africa to take a stand against apartheid Israel and refuse to normalize Israel’s apartheid regime?” the coalition said.
“If we accept support or funding from the Israeli regime or work with Zionist groups on cultural exchanges between Israel and South Africa, we are complicit in artwashing the criminal behavior of the Israeli regime.”