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Simon Callow: BDS is 'an abomination'

'I will speak out about artists when they are blocked or have been stopped from performing.'

April 21, 2017 14:45
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ByLee Harpin, Lee Harpin

2 min read

Simon Callow has described the boycott Israel campaign as an “abomination” that must not be allowed to succeed.

The renowned actor and director was moved to speak out because he believes BDS prevents theatre reaching as wide a cross-section of society as possible.

The Four Weddings and A Funeral star said: “I think it is an abomination that, because you dislike the status of a particular country, you stop artists from coming to communicate.”

Mr Callow, who is currently directing a new version of Christopher Hampton’s play The Philanthropist, said the repeated calls in 2012 to boycott performances of The Merchant of Venice by Israel’s Habima Theatre Company in the UK illustrated how BDS damaged the performing arts.