Approximately 200 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the Teatros del Canal theater in Madrid on Thursday night to protest a performance by Israel's Batsheva Dance Company.
The demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and displayed a large banner reading in Spanish, "Israel dances while it kills in Gaza." They called for a boycott of the company and demanded that its performances be canceled. Some shouted "Murderers" and "Shame on you" at audience members arriving at the theater.
Despite the demonstration, the performance went ahead as planned and, according to the Israeli Embassy in Spain, ended with a standing ovation.
Batsheva is performing Sadeh21, a work by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin, as part of a three-show engagement in Madrid scheduled for October 15, 16, and 17 at the theater's Concha Velasco auditorium.
The opening performance took place Thursday night, with two additional shows scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Spanish media reports say all three performances sold out.
Prominent Spanish choreographer, actress join protests
Among the demonstrators was prominent Spanish choreographer and dancer Nacho Duato, who had previously called for Batsheva's performances to be canceled in social media posts.
Duato argued that while Russian dance companies faced boycotts after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, an Israeli company receiving public funding was invited to perform in Madrid.
Spanish actress Goizalde Núñez also joined the protest, while filmmaker Javier Fesser criticized the funding for the performances.
Duato sparked further controversy after a video circulated on social media in which he described Hamas as a "liberation movement" and refused to classify it as a terrorist organization.
The Israeli Embassy in Spain responded sharply on Thursday, posting on X/Twitter that Duato was leading the boycott against Batsheva while supporting Hamas, the terrorist organization responsible for the October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel.
On Friday, the embassy issued another statement congratulating Batsheva on the success of its opening performance, the standing ovation it received, and the fact that all three shows had sold out.
Meanwhile, a different response emerged from the dance academy that bears Duato's name.
Following Thursday's performance, the academy posted a photograph on Instagram showing its students alongside Batsheva dancers. It thanked the Israeli company for an unforgettable evening and called for peace, mutual respect, and continued artistic cooperation.
The academy's message contrasted with Duato's public calls to boycott the performances.
The demonstration was organized by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and pro-Palestinian solidarity groups, which argued that the Israeli government's financial support for Batsheva made the company a tool for promoting Israel's image abroad.
The theater's workers' committee also opposed hosting the Israeli company.
Theater director rejects protesters' demands, says program not political
However, the theater's director, Ruperto Merino, rejected demands to cancel the performances, saying decisions about the artistic program were based on professional, not political, considerations.
Merino said the theater would not censor artistic works based on their creators' country of origin.
Batsheva, one of Israel's most internationally recognized dance companies, told the Spanish newspaper El País that it is not a political organization and that its members hold differing views.
A spokesperson for the company said Batsheva had publicly called for a ceasefire, the release of the hostages, and an end to the bloodshed in Gaza since October 7.
She also emphasized that Naharin has opposed the Israeli occupation for years and has been a vocal critic of Israeli government policies.
According to the spokesperson, Batsheva is accustomed to facing protests outside its performance venues and knows how to handle them without being drawn into confrontations.
She added that previous Israeli governments had attempted to cut the company's funding because of its political positions, stressing that public funds belong to citizens, not the government.
The protests in Madrid come approximately two weeks after the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) published an extensive study on October 1 titled State of the Arts, documenting what it described as the widespread and systematic exclusion of Jewish, Israeli, and Zionist artists from cultural industries across the United States.
The study examines incidents involving music, dance, theater, film, literature, publishing, museums, and the visual arts.
One chapter, titled "Dark Stage," documents 65 incidents at 41 locations across the United States in which Jewish and Israeli performing artists faced protests, harassment, disruptions to performances, or cancellations.
Batsheva is specifically mentioned in the report, alongside Jewish singer Matisyahu and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
Similar incidents have also targeted Jewish comedian Jerry Seinfeld, whose performance in Chicago was recently disrupted by pro-Palestinian activists.
Seinfeld has faced protests over the past three years amid criticism of his support for Israel and the sympathy he has expressed for victims of the October 7 massacre.
In May 2024, dozens of students walked out of Duke University's commencement ceremony in protest as Seinfeld delivered a speech. In August, the ADL documented a campaign calling for the cancellation of his Washington performances.
Singer Regina Spektor has also faced heckling during a performance, while comedian Judy Gold was subjected to antisemitic shouts on stage.
These incidents are among a growing number of reported boycotts and protests targeting Jewish and Israeli performers.
According to the ADL, however, some of the most concerning forms of discrimination occur away from public view.
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said when the study was published that discrimination extends beyond public demonstrations to decisions made behind the scenes by cultural institutions, publishers, and event organizers.
The organization warned that Jewish artists are being pushed out of American cultural life, blacklisted, and denied professional opportunities.
The ADL also highlighted a phenomenon it described as "silent boycotts," in which invitations are quietly withdrawn, performances are never scheduled, collaborations are abandoned, and cultural institution directors are reluctant to hire Israeli or Jewish artists associated with Israel.
Israeli singer Noga Erez, for example, has said she lost opportunities to perform abroad because she is Israeli.
The report also describes cases in which authors were asked to remove Hebrew words from their work, change the Jewish names of characters, or avoid setting their stories in Israel to improve their chances of publication.
In the visual arts sector, 12 of the 40 leading museums examined in the United States received the ADL's lowest rating because of shortcomings in their policies and representation of Jews.
None of the 40 museums surveyed explicitly included Jewish identity in their diversity and inclusion commitments.