Take a moment and send a letter to the Ottawa Jazz Festival.
Let them know it is not cool to be used in the apartheid state’s art-washing program.
Write a letter
In 2018, the Ottawa Jazz Festival (OJF) accepted programming sponsorship from the apartheid state of Israel embassy in Ottawa. Despite widespread criticism at the time, the OJF accepted such sponsorship again for its 2023 summer festival.
The OJF has allowed itself to be used as part of Israel’s campaign of art-washing — a way of distracting the international community from the decades of injustices committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.
The apartheid sponsorship of the OJF occurred prior to the punitive and genocidal war now being waged by apartheid Israel against the people of Gaza, but the festival has not since renounced future sponsorship from the apartheid state. Conscientious music fans, musicians, donors, and sponsors are therefore urged to write and tell the OJF that they are withdrawing their support.
Jazz is a music that has long embraced civil rights, tolerance, and anti-racism.
#StopArtWashing@OttawaJazz
