Arts organisations pull out of Sydney festival in protest at Israeli embassy sponsorship

At least three arts organisations have pulled out of Sydney festival over a sponsorship deal with the Israeli embassy, amid calls for a boycott.

So far, Blake Prize-winning artist Khaled Sabsabi, Malyangapa and Barkindji rapper Barkaa, South Asian dance company Bindi Bosses, the Arab Theatre Studio, the Bankstown poetry slam and comedian Nazeem Hussain have pulled out of the 2022 festival.

According to a statement released on Wednesday by the Palestinian Justice Movement Sydney, the sponsorship deal was sealed in May, the same month Israeli armed forces launched a series of air attacks on Gaza, killing a number of Palestinian civilians.

In a statement provided to Guardian Australia on Thursday, a festival spokesperson said it would not be terminating its agreement with the Israeli embassy.

In an earlier statement this week, the Sydney festival board said it was unable to support the BDS movement as requested by the coalition (which includes the Arab Australian Federation, Greens for Palestine, Independent Australian Jewish Voices, Jews against the Occupation Sydney, the Sydney representative for BDS and United Australian Palestinian Workers) because the festival was a nonprofit, non-political organisation.

One of the co-authors of the Meanjin letter is writer Michael Mohammed Ahmad, who was due to join the festival board later this year and has now rejected the appointment.

A statement from the Israel embassy in Canberra sent to the Guardian on Thursday said:

Earlier this year the Melbourne Queer film festival faced a similar backlash for screening an Israeli state-funded film.