Radiohead urged to cancel Israel gig by leading art world figures
Directors Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, comedian Alexei Sayle and musicians Roger Waters and Thurston Moore are among a group of leading figures from the arts world who have signed an open letter questioning Radiohead's decision to play a gig in Israel later this year.
The letter, appearing on the website Artists for Palestine UK, addresses the band saying: "By playing in Israel you’ll be playing in a state where, UN rapporteurs say, ‘a system of apartheid has been imposed on the Palestinian people’."
Also among the letter's 47 signatories are actors Julie Christie, Maxine Peake, Ricky Tomlinson, Miriam Margolyes and Juliet Stephenson, writers Michael Rosen, China Miéville, Geoff Dyer and Alice Walker, and South African archbishop Desmond Tutu.
"In asking you not to perform in Israel," the letter continues, "Palestinians have appealed to you to take one small step to help pressure Israel to end its violation of basic rights and international law.
"Surely if making a stand against the politics of division, of discrimination and of hate means anything at all, it means standing against it everywhere – and that has to include what happens to Palestinians every day."
Radiohead last played in Israel in 2000. Jonny Greenwood, the band's guitarist, is married to Israeli artist Sharona Katan, and recently released an album with an Israeli singer, Shye Ben Tzur.
The band has declined to comment on its decision to play in Israel, or on the open letter.
In a statement appended to the letter Ken Loach said: "I do hope Radiohead, and Thom Yorke in particular, realise the damage they will be doing to the Palestinians if they perform in Tel Aviv. The Palestinians’ land is being stolen, they are being oppressed in every way, their daily lives made intolerable, many are imprisoned unlawfully in Israel, including shockingly, their children. I’m afraid your pious words will mean nothing if you turn your backs on the Palestinians. For their sake, and your own self-respect, please think again."
Writing for the Telegraph in 2016, Jonathan Neumann of Jewish Human Rights condemned the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which encourages groups and individuals to shun Israel and its products, saying: "Anyone remotely sensitive to Jewish history will know that boycotts have been the instrument of Jewish persecution for a millennium.
"The last century taught the Jews full well that what begins with a boycott by a few thugs or unknown academics does not end there. If 'never again' is to mean anything, it is that BDS cannot be tolerated in a decent and civilised society."
