It’s full steam ahead for a protest planned for Monday’s scheduled concert by US Grammy award winning US artist Pharrell Williams in Cape Town‚ the protest organisers‚ the pro-Palestine movement BDS‚ said on Saturday.
This follows a ruling by the Cape High Court on Saturday morning declaring the City of Cape Town’s restriction of the upcoming #PharrellProtest to 150 people as unconstitutional and therefore invalid‚ it said.
In terms of the court ruling‚ the organisation will be allowed to protest outside the concert venue and up to 16‚000 people will be allowed to take part in the protest.
The City of Cape Town was ordered to pay for legal costs‚ BDS added in a statement‚ hailing the court decision as “another victory” in the campaign against Williams’ collaboration with local retail group Woolworths which it has accused of trading with Israel.
“Pharrell Williams‚ Woolworths‚ Grand West Casino and the City of Cape Town have tried all they could in the last few weeks to limit and prevent protest action during the upcoming Pharrell Williams Woolworths tour and in particular the concert taking place on Monday 21 September in Cape Town at Grand West Casino at 3pm.
“This is a good day for the BDS movement‚ Palestine solidarity and for the hard-won freedoms that our fathers and mothers fought for. Freedom of expression‚ the right to assembly and the right to protest are rights of us South Africans that Woolworths‚ Grand West Casino‚ the City of Cape Town and Pharrell Williams cannot play with‚” BDS asserted.
It added that Saturday’s court victory against the City of Cape Town — together with Grand West Casino’s withdrawing of its own court application on Thursday also against the #PharrellProtest actions – now meant that it was full-steam ahead for Monday’s #PharrellProtest.
Pharrell Williams is due to encounter “the largest protest any artist would have faced since the end of Apartheid”‚ it charged.
“South Africans are well known for their support of the Palestinian people and boycott of Israel with Nelson Mandela famously stating that: ‘our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians’.
“On Monday at Grand West Casino‚ human rights and Palestine solidarity activists will be protesting against Pharrell Williams’ collaboration with Woolworths and its trade with Israel. The protest forms part of the now year-long #BoycottWoolworths campaign calling on the company (that Williams is in collaboration with) to end its relations with Israel.”
Mike Farr‚ General Manager for Corporate Brand and Communications at Sun International‚ which owns Grand West‚ said the group would abide by the court’s decision.
He added that BDS had given an undertaking that it would not disrupt the concert‚ that it would not protest on private property and that the protest would at all times be peaceful.
Full steam ahead’ for protest at Pharrell Williams concert
It’s full steam ahead for a protest planned for Monday’s scheduled concert by US Grammy award winning US artist Pharrell Williams in Cape Town‚ the protest organisers‚ the pro-Palestine movement BDS‚ said on Saturday.
This follows a ruling by the Cape High Court on Saturday morning declaring the City of Cape Town’s restriction of the upcoming #PharrellProtest to 150 people as unconstitutional and therefore invalid‚ it said.
In terms of the court ruling‚ the organisation will be allowed to protest outside the concert venue and up to 16‚000 people will be allowed to take part in the protest.
The City of Cape Town was ordered to pay for legal costs‚ BDS added in a statement‚ hailing the court decision as “another victory” in the campaign against Williams’ collaboration with local retail group Woolworths which it has accused of trading with Israel.
“Pharrell Williams‚ Woolworths‚ Grand West Casino and the City of Cape Town have tried all they could in the last few weeks to limit and prevent protest action during the upcoming Pharrell Williams Woolworths tour and in particular the concert taking place on Monday 21 September in Cape Town at Grand West Casino at 3pm.
“This is a good day for the BDS movement‚ Palestine solidarity and for the hard-won freedoms that our fathers and mothers fought for. Freedom of expression‚ the right to assembly and the right to protest are rights of us South Africans that Woolworths‚ Grand West Casino‚ the City of Cape Town and Pharrell Williams cannot play with‚” BDS asserted.
It added that Saturday’s court victory against the City of Cape Town — together with Grand West Casino’s withdrawing of its own court application on Thursday also against the #PharrellProtest actions – now meant that it was full-steam ahead for Monday’s #PharrellProtest.
Pharrell Williams is due to encounter “the largest protest any artist would have faced since the end of Apartheid”‚ it charged.
“South Africans are well known for their support of the Palestinian people and boycott of Israel with Nelson Mandela famously stating that: ‘our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians’.
“On Monday at Grand West Casino‚ human rights and Palestine solidarity activists will be protesting against Pharrell Williams’ collaboration with Woolworths and its trade with Israel. The protest forms part of the now year-long #BoycottWoolworths campaign calling on the company (that Williams is in collaboration with) to end its relations with Israel.”
Mike Farr‚ General Manager for Corporate Brand and Communications at Sun International‚ which owns Grand West‚ said the group would abide by the court’s decision.
He added that BDS had given an undertaking that it would not disrupt the concert‚ that it would not protest on private property and that the protest would at all times be peaceful.
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