MORE than 20 performers have now pulled out of the 2022 Sydney Festival in over the “artwashing” of the Israeli regime’s brutal oppression of the Palestinian people.

The mass boycott of the event came after Israel was listed as a partner of the annual festival after its embassy in Australia made a $20,000 (£14,745) donation in support of an Israeli choreographer.

Local organisations highlighted the Israeli government’s financial backing of the annual festival in December, calling for a boycott.