Jewish Voice for Peace Santa Barbara protested an Israeli dance company’s performance in downtown Santa Barbara on Feb. 25 due to its financial backing from Israeli politicians, among other private sources. Protestors claimed the dance troupe engaged in “art-washing” Israel’s policies and recent actions in the Middle East.
Protestors claim the dance troupe is engaging in “art-washing” Israel’s history and recent actions in the Middle East. Jack Dindia / Daily Nexus
The performance was put on by Batsheva Dance Company, which originates from Tel Aviv, Israel, and is funded by the state of Israel. They performed “MOMO,” a contemporary dance production created by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin. Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) handed out fliers that claimed the performance was “art-washing,” meaning the art serves as a distraction from negative actions committed by its creator, since it was funded by Israel.
Ahead of the performance, about 20 demonstrators — some from JVP and some unaffiliated — lined the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street from the Granada Theatre.
As audience members formed lines to enter the building, demonstrators passed out fliers which read “Israel is committing a genocide, deliberately killing civilians, targeting infrastructure and destroying culture in Gaza. Batshiva artwashes genocide,” and held signs which read “Batsheva: ambassadors of genocide,” “sick from genocide” and “no artwashing ethnic cleansing.”
On Oct. 7, militant-group Hamas led an attack on Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages. This led to a siege of the Gaza strip by Israel resulting in nearly 42,000 Palestinians deaths and millions displaced, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Marcy Winograd, co-chair of the Central Coast Antiwar Coalition, helped organize the event by sending emails promoting the protest. Winograd said she was a former Zionist and pointed out Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 2006 as a shifting point, when she decided she didn’t “want this kind of war waged in [her] name.”
Winograd said that the Batsheva Dance Company is acting as “soft power ambassadors” as they are “representatives of the state of Israel,” since they are funded by them. While she opposes Batsheva, her protest is directed toward the company rather than aspects of the actual performance.
“I’m not here to dissect their performance or evaluate their performance, only to say, during a genocide, we should not be patronizing ambassadors for Israel,” Winograd said. “We should instead participate in [the] Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel to apply pressure to stop this slaughter, to stop this persecution of the Palestinians.”
A version of this article appeared on p.5 of the Mar. 6, 2025 edition of the Daily Nexus.
