Belfast political art group which won the Turner Prize vows to boycott Israel along with a string of other performers

The signatories, now numbering over 1,500, "pledge not to avail of any invitation to perform or exhibit in Israel, nor to accept any funding from any institution linked to the government of Israel, until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights".

Most of the names on the list have been there for some time, but the ISPC has made a fresh call for signatories in the last 24 hours.

The names on the list include the members of the Array Collective: Sighle Bhreathnach-Cashell, Sinead Bhreathnach-Cashell, Jane Butler, Emma Campbell, Alessia Cargnelli, Mitch Conlon, Clodagh Lavelle, Grace McMurray, Stephen Millar, Laura O’Connor, and Thomas Wells.

The collective says its members "create collaborative actions in response to the sociopolitical issues affecting Northern Ireland".

The group is strongly in favour of liberalised abortion.

It was handed the 2021 Turner Prize at a ceremony in Coventry Church of England Cathedral for an exhibition about "body autonomy, language and culture, LGBTQ+ rights, mental health and the environment".

Among the other names on the boycott list are:

• West Belfast rap act Kneecap;
• SOAK, a feted "non-binary" songwriter from Londonderry who won the 2015 Irish Choice Music Prize Album;
• Republican comedian Tadhg Hickey;
• Members of the Irish traditional band Kila (Rossa O Snodaigh, Brian Hogan, Colm O Snodaigh);
• The trad group The Druids (Gary Lawlor, Mick Dunne, Mick O’Brien, Paddy Mangan);
• Dan Acheson of Londonderry punk group The Wood Burning Savages;
• And Tom Stapleton and Mark Graham of high-energy electronica group King Kong Company.

The idea of a "cultural boycott" has divided artists and academics.

The band Radiohead refused to boycott Israel and played a major concert there in 2022, with frontman Thom Yorke telling Rolling Stone magazine: "You’re not bringing people together. You’re not encouraging dialogue or a sense of understanding.

"It’s such an extraordinary waste of energy. Energy that could be used in a more positive way."

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Among the most vocal opponents of a general boycott of Israel is American Jewish polymath Noam Chomsky, who has argued such a move is driven by activists wanting to "feel good" about themselves.

In an interview with Al Jazeera in 2016 Prof Chomsky said he does support limited boycott efforts "aimed at the occupied territories", calling these "principled" and "correct" because "the settlement and the occupation are illegal acts".

But asked if he supports "cultural boycotts, arts boycotts, operas" of Israel at large, he said: "I don't, no, any more than I support them against other countries, just as I do not suggest boycotting Harvard University and my own university even though the US is involved in horrific acts."

When it was put to him that a majority of Palestinians support a general boycott, he indicated that if most Palestinians were asked the question "Do you want Jews to get out and go home?" then "they would say yes too – but that doesn't mean, yeah, we follow that policy”.