Briarpatch signs onto PACBI

At Briarpatch, our mandate is explicitly to not only report on social movements, but to also commit to building them. For years Briarpatch has covered stories about Palestine and the Palestinian solidarity movement in Canada, and readers would have seen an increase in this content since last Fall. It is in lockstep with this reporting that we as an organization have voted to join other arts organizations and publications and endorse the Palestinian Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). 

This means that Briarpatch specifically commits to: 

• boycott any cultural product or event funded, commissioned, &/or sponsored by an official Israeli body
• not collaborate with or take money from Israeli institutions
• refuse "normalization" efforts seeking to justify Israel's violence or present a false symmetry between oppressed & oppressor
• advocate for others to similarly divest from Israel, end support for the oppression of Palestinians, & pressure Israel to comply with international law 

As PACBI rejects on principle boycotts of individuals based on their identity or opinion, the boycott only applies to Israeli individuals if they are representing the state of Israel or a complicit Israel institution, or are recruited to participate in Israel’s rebranding efforts.  

We have a responsibility as a publication to denounce anti-Palestinian racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and the dangerous conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. We have all witnessed and continue to witness the way Canadian media and publications have refused to engage in ethical reporting on the genocide in Gaza.  We see endorsing PACBI as a crucial way we uphold our values and remain accountable to our readers.

If your organization or publication is considering endorsing PACBI, you can find more information at  https://bdsmovement.net/pacbi or reach out for support from Writers Against the War on Gaza at [email protected].

If you have any have questions about Briarpatch’s decision, please reach out to [email protected].   

In solidarity, 

The Briarpatch Board of Directors