Report: Iran Cancels Berlin State Opera Show in Tehran over Israeli-Argentine Conductor
Iran said it canceled the concert of a Berlin orchestra set to be led by renowned Jewish conductor Daniel Barenboim because they consider his Israeli citizenship “illegitimate,” a BBC reporter revealed Friday on Twitter.Who’s Funding Pro-Palestinian Israeli ‘Human Rights’ Groups?
BBC correspondent Hadi Nili said a spokesperson for the Iranian Culture Ministry announced the cancellation, adding there is “no room in Iran for artists related to Zionist regime.”
Barenboim, the general music director of the Berlin State Opera and its orchestra, the Staatskapelle, announced this week his plan to take Germany’s top orchestra to Iran for a concert. His decision sparked outrage and protests from Israel, who lobbied the German government against the visit, The Guardian reported.
Barenboim, who moved to Israel from Argentina with his family when he was 9, has spent most of his career in Germany. He also has a Spanish and Argentinian citizenship.
The Israeli-Argentinian conductor has yet to comment on the cancellation of the concert.
The organization goes by the unwieldy name of the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat. According to its annual report, it is “a project implemented by NIRAS NATURA AB – Sweden, and the Institute of Law, Birzeit University, Birzeit, Palestine, with generous support from the governments of Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland.”Watch How Anti-Israel Protest Leader Responds When We Ask Her if Hamas Is a Terrorist Organization
In other words, the money itself is European. But the ones who decide what to do with it are Niras Natura – which describes itself as an international consultancy firm in the field of sustainable development – and the faculty of Birzeit. And since the Birzeit people are the ones actually on the ground, they presumably have considerable influence over how the money is spent.
The Secretariat’s main job appears to be funneling money to other organizations. According to the annual report, it had 24 “core grantees” and 19 “project grantees” last year. Nine of the former and two of the latter are Israeli; the rest are Palestinian.
When the war broke out in July 2014, the Secretariat put out a call to its core grantees soliciting emergency funding requests. “The emergency funding call focused on activities related to monitoring and documentation of IHL [international humanitarian law] and human rights violations in the Gaza Strip, arising from the then ongoing war,” the report said. Requests were received from 11 organizations, including three Israeli ones, and the Secretariat decided to fund nine of them, including two Israeli groups – B’Tselem and BTS.
But the money was intended for “monitoring and documentation” of alleged violations by one side only – Israel. That’s crystal clear from the report’s summary of its emergency grantees’ “achievements”: Not one of the nine says a word about the massive Palestinian violations of international humanitarian law.
The section on Breaking the Silence is particularly blatant. The Secretariat would have considered its money well spent, the report declared, had BTS managed to scrounge up even a single anti-Israel testimony from Israeli soldiers:
The leader of an anti-Israel protest in New York City Wednesday contended that the United States government is “much worse” than Hamas when asked if she would characterize the group as a terrorist organization.U.S. Government Worse Than Hamas, Says Anti-Israel Protest Leader
“Do you think of Hamas as a terrorist organization?” a reporter for TheBlaze asked protest leader Lana Povitz, who represents Jewish Voices for Peace.
“I think of the United States government as a terrorist organization,” she responded.
“What’s worse: Hamas or the United States government?” our reporter pressed.
“The United States government is much worse,” Povitz said.
The anti-Israel activist said that Hamas is “not my favorite,” adding that her “first fight isn’t with them.” When asked who her first fight is with, Povitz answered, “The U.S. government because they are funding Israel.” (h/t Effect)