Re: Threats received by the Cornelius Cardew Concerts Trust from "UK Lawyers for Israel"

CCCT Statement, November 21, 2024

Demonstration in London standing with Palestine, October 19 2024

The Cornelius Cardew Concerts Trust (CCCT) condemns the thuggery exhibited by the organisation "UK Lawyers for Israel" (UKLFI) when it demanded that the CCCT cancel its concert "The World Stands with Palestine" on November 15. The concert was to be held at Morley College to whom the UKLFI also wrote a threatening letter which the College did not think it could ignore. Given the kind of hooligan attacks which the world had just witnessed carried out by Zionist thugs in Amsterdam, it is no wonder the College felt threatened.

In its letter to the CCCT, the UKLFI declared, "Your event, which lauds Palestinian 'resistance', will be intimidating and offensive for any Jewish, Israeli or Zionist visitors." It cites "possible breaches of the law" - the Terrorism Act 2000 ("supporting a proscribed organisation"), the Equality Act 2010 ("harassing Jews, Israelis or Zionists") and Charity Commission guidelines ("presenting Hamas' point of view").

It is a well-known principle of international law, recently once again reaffirmed by the International Court of Justice, that to support the Palestinians' right to resist their occupying power is neither a crime nor illegal. What is of concern is how the likes of the UKLFI - whose "Charitable Arm", we are informed, is itself under investigation by the Charity Commission - can run around threatening reprisals by quoting all these laws and attempt to intimidate those who host musical events, or any events in support of the Palestinian people's resistance to genocide for that matter.

We recall how, on another occasion, all venues hosting cultural events which featured Russian musicians, artists, composers, dancers or other cultural personalities were told by Britain's official circles to close down the performances on pain of draconian reprisals. Many were forced to close not because they supported what the government was doing but because of the hooligans threatening theatre and concert goers with violence against which the venues were not insured or protected.

Such attacks by Zionist hooligans against people of Arab origin is precisely what took place recently in Amsterdam which the BBC, Sky News and The New York Times managed to declare was an anti-Jewish pogrom - a statement also made by the Mayor of Amsterdam which she had the courage to apologise for once the irrefutable proof that it was Zionist thuggery became known by the public.

The laws quoted by the UKLFI to threaten reprisals have themselves been rejected time and time again by the hundreds of thousands of people across Britain who have stood up in defence of their right to speak out against the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza by the Israeli occupying power and in support of the movement to resist occupation and the denial of the Palestinian people's right to be.

Now that it is also known that the crime of starvation has been added to the war crimes that the occupying power is committing against the people of Gaza, thuggery of the kind exhibited by UKLFI will not find acceptance in Britain either. It is an act of desperation of the kind that the people in this country oppose with all their being and always have, as indeed is the case with the peoples all over the world with whom we stand as one.

The threats and pernicious accusations of the UKLFI against the CCCT aim to spread fear. In this regard, they represent the latest tactic of the Zionists who are using lawyers in various countries to threaten people and silence their voice.

This is by no means an isolated example, with evidence of a considerable number of cases where organisations have cancelled events after threats from the UKLFI. Amongst others, a south London community centre felt obliged to cancel an event featuring Palestinian American poet Remi Kanazi.

Opposing such things is a matter of conscience, a matter of principle and a matter of heart.

The musicians and composers who organised this CCCT concert, have composed new music and organised to share their compositions and performances with the public. They have done so in deepest sympathy with the suffering Palestinian people and in response to their heroic struggle for their very existence. They reject this latest attempt to silence their music and their voices and to illegalise music itself through scaring composers and performers to remain silent and bullying the concert venue itself.

The Cornelius Cardew Concerts Trust informs the public that it is engaged in taking legal advice and that it will hold the concert as soon as feasible despite the threats from the likes of the UKLFI. The Concerts Trust has received broad and extensive support for its stand, with many expressions of outrage at the thuggery of this group whose aims are not in the least aligned with those of the people of this country.

The concert "The World Stands With Palestine" is consistent with the lofty ideals of humanity which the CCCT has always upheld. The CCCT is devoted to contributing to enlightenment and progress in every field, and stands firmly in the mainstream of human endeavour. Its objectives as a charity include encouraging the "greater understanding and appreciation of new music generally, and particularly British new music of which Cornelius Cardew was a pathfinder," and "encouraging composers, particularly young composers, to write such new music for the public benefit."

The concert "The World Stands With Palestine" stands firmly within those objectives. The CCCT calls on all to take a stand against the threats of reprisals from the "UK Lawyers for Israel".

Stand with Palestine - it is a matter of conscience, principle and heart!

Trustees
Cornelius Cardew Concerts Trust

Cornelius Cardew leading a demonstration in the 1970s that Nazis Have No Right To Organise!

In an article in the Morning Star, Ben Lunn draws attention to the way cultural expressions of solidarity with Palestinians are being censored by Israeli-sponsored "lawfare".

Referring to the thuggish behaviour of "UK Lawyers for Israel", Ben Lunn writes:

"This manoeuvring is extremely troubling. However it does demonstrate how important cultural, and ideological, battles are. As was witnessed shortly after invasion of Russia into Ukraine in 2022, culture became a battleground of ideas where the very question of the performing Russian music came to the forefront. But what makes this development more concerning is it is being pushed predominantly from above, through organisations which we cannot verify as legitimate organisations, and not just PR fronts to divert from the atrocities committed by the Netanyahu government and his stooges.

"Thankfully organisations like PalMusic UK have managed to host events promoting Palestinian culture, but other big institutions like the Barbican have been threatened by UKLFI suggesting they are in breach of 1986 Public Order Act.

"One question readers may be asking is: if this organisation and supporters are so against the concert, why do they not just picket/protest against the performance? What is cannily done by UKLFI is exploit the fact that many venues are often charitable organisations.

"This means that part of the duty of being a charitable organisation is to be 'apolitical', in addition to many other conditions which organisations need to follow to be eligible for funding. A statement released by UKFLI on November 18 argued that 'Morley College, a registered charity, could also be in danger of breaching its charitable objectives.'

"What can be seen from this development is artists, and organisations who support them or hire them in Britain, are not free to speak their minds. Though many have been aware of this for a long period of time, given the previous history of blacklisting suspected communist artists, it has not been this naked and clear to see.

The UKFLI statement on this issue details their accusations against the concert, which suggest: 'The CCCT concert and its publicity appears to be a political campaign for the government of Gaza, Hamas.' Similarly, Caroline Turner, the director of UKFLI, included in her statement the words: 'It is a shame that the Cornelius Cardew Concert Trust appears to have been hijacked by anti-Israel activists.'"

Ben Lunn continues: "The conflation between solidarity with Palestinians and sympathies with terrorism has been a longstanding argument of many critics of the pro-Palestinian movement in Britain (and internationally) and, as already mentioned, the precarious circumstances venues find themselves in makes it very easy to silence any art that is made in solidarity with Palestine and the Palestinians.

"Much as with artists supporting Vietnam in the '60s, fighting apartheid in South Africa in the '80s and earlier, or artists condemning the atrocities of the invasion of Iraq in the early 2000s, artists need the freedom to speak on such issues. Ultimately, artists should be free to speak on any issue they desire - as at the end of the day, the quality of the art and the strength of the idea will give it the longevity it deserves. Good art challenges.

"Similarly, the simple act of performing works by Palestinians or performers dedicating a concert to victims of war in Palestine, Ukraine, Sudan, Yemen, or any people in conflict is not criminal."

Ben Lunn concludes: "We should send our solidarity to the Cornelius Cardew Concerts Trust, and other organisations fighting the good fight."