A member of rock band Radiohead has hit out at “censorship” and “intimidation” after exhibits he was resulting from play with an Israeli musician have been cancelled following “credible threats”.
Guitarist and keyboardist Jonny Greenwood had been resulting from play two exhibits with Israel-born rock musician Dudu Tassa at Bristol Beacon’s Lantern Corridor and London’s Hackney Church in June.
However on Tuesday, they confirmed the gigs would now not go forward after the venues determined it was “not safe to proceed”.
Greenwood has collaborated with Tassa for greater than a decade and launched the album Jarak Qaribak with him in 2023.
The Palestinian Marketing campaign for the Tutorial and Cultural Boycott of Israel (Pacbi), a member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions motion, welcomed the cancellations, claiming the performances would have “whitewashed” the struggle in Gaza.
An announcement from Greenwood, Tassa and their musicians stated: “The venues and their blameless staff have received enough credible threats to conclude that it’s not safe to proceed. Promoters of the shows can’t be expected to fund our, or our audience’s, protection.”
It stated the “cancellation will be hailed as a victory by the campaigners behind it, but we see nothing to celebrate and don’t find that anything positive has been achieved”.
It went on: “Forcing musicians not to perform and denying people who want to hear them an opportunity to do so is self-evidently a method of censorship and silencing.
“We imagine artwork exists above and past politics; that artwork that seeks to ascertain the frequent identification of musicians throughout borders within the Center East must be inspired, not decried; and that artists must be free to precise themselves no matter their citizenship or their faith – and definitely whatever the selections made by their governments.”
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Pic: Lior Keter
It stated the present additionally featured singers from Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait and Iraq, with “each of the members brought together by a shared love of Arabic song, regardless of where exactly they all happened to be born”.
The assertion additionally stated: “We find ourselves in the odd position of being condemned by both ends of the political spectrum.
“For some on the precise, we’re enjoying the ‘fallacious’ sort of music – too inclusive, too conscious of the wealthy and exquisite variety of Center Japanese tradition. For some on the left, we’re solely enjoying it to absolve ourselves of our collective sins.
“We dread the weaponisation of this cancellation by reactionary figures as much as we lament its celebration by some progressives.”
The musicians additionally referenced Northern Irish rappers Kneecap, and up to date calls to cancel their exhibits after one member appeared to name for the dying of British MPs. One other video of the band appeared to indicate a member shouting “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah”. Each claims are being investigated by counter-terrorism police.
The assertion stated: “We have no judgment to pass on Kneecap but note how sad it is that those supporting their freedom of expression are the same ones most determined to restrict ours.
“We agree utterly with individuals who ask ‘How can this be extra vital than what’s taking place in Gaza and Israel?’ They’re proper – it is not. How might it’s? What, in anybody’s upcoming cultural life, is?”
Greenwood additionally confronted opposition from pro-Palestinian teams final yr after performing in Tel Aviv amid the struggle in Gaza.
Radiohead carried out at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv in 2017.
