Over 250 artists urge UK theatres to end Bloomberg Philanthropies over ties to Israel

More than 250 cultural figures, including Caryl Churchill, Alex Lawther and Miriam Margolyes are calling on five leading British theatres to end their partnerships with Bloomberg Philanthropies over its ties to Israel.

In an open letter published on Thursday by group Artists for Palestine UK, the figures accuse the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Court, the Young Vic and the Almeida of “actively undermining” their own ethical commitments in the partnership.

Bloomberg Philanthropies funds the Bloomberg-Sagol Center for City Leadership at Tel Aviv University, providing leadership training to those governing illegal Israeli settlements of the occupied West Bank.

The letter calls on the theatres to “set an example” for the sector and “stand up for international law and against dispossession, apartheid, genocide and mass violence”.