Performers and Israeli BDS
I thought an omnibus thread about performers who are following or not following the BDS movement (that is, refusing or not refusing to play in Israel) might be useful, since there are a number of stories out right now about various performers who are either cancelling or being pressured to cancel performances in Israel.
Elvis Costello respects the BDS call and pulls out of Israeli concerts.
Only two weeks after British rock icon Elvis Costello told The Jerusalem Post that the only answer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is “dialogue and reconciliation,” he decided to take himself out of the equation by cancelling his two shows scheduled for June 30 and July 1 at the Caesaerea Amphitheater.
Costello posted an announcement on his Web site over the weekend explaining his decision to join the boycott of Israel. “There are occasions when merely having your name added to a concert schedule may be interpreted as a political act that resonates more than anything that might be sung and it may be assumed that one has no mind for the suffering of the innocent,” he wrote.
Saying he couldn’t imagine receiving another invitation to perform in Israel, Costello wrote that since the conflict was “actually too grave and complex to be addressed in a concert, then it is also quite impossible to simply look the other way… sometimes a silence in music is better than adding to the static.”
What I particularly like about this story is that he had made a statement two weeks ago saying he was going to play in Israel as planned, but then, after thinking about it, he came to a different conclusion -- and he had the courage to change his mind and say so. He's getting a rough ride from the Jerusalem Post article I quoted above (if you read on). The slant of the piece is clearly against his decision. And he must have known he'd be vilified.
Good for him.
Elvis Costello's full statement
Oh. So Elvis Costello, the guy who once called Ray Charles a "blind, ignorant nigger", is boycotting Israel? Wow. I cower in awe of his moral authority.
Heh. And yet, apartheid supporters at the J-Post fawned all over him when he took the original position that he wasn't going to cancel. And I'll go even one further - I'll bet the usual apartheid apologists here would have too, had he not changed his mind and it was brought up here. But now, they'll be all, "Oh, Elvis said a racist word once."
His comment was made in 1979, 31 years ago. He apologized right away, and has probably been apologetic ever since when it's brought up. It was a a stupid and racist thing to say, and he deserved to be called on it.
Hands up how many people have never made a racist comment that they later realized (or even at the time realized) was completely unacceptable. Anyone? My hand isn't up.
Have your Israeli heroes apologized yet for the apartheid they're wreaking on Palestinians, SSC? I thought not. You should cower in awe of many people's moral authority, but not the people you stick up for regularly on babble. Elvis Costello got overrefreshed one night 31 years ago and used the N-word in a conversation and apologized for it after he'd sobered up and got rightfully called on it. Israel is murdering and ethnically cleansing Palestinians to this day and doesn't ever apologize for it.
You do the math.
My "Israeli heroes" consist of a bunch of research scientists and one tennis player. I don't know what they have to apologize for. Making medical breakthroughs? Being great at sports?
From Elvis Costello's website
Obviously, having a multi-racial band is no get-out-of-racism-free card. But it's ridiculous to bring up a racist comment someone made while having a drunken pissing contest at a bar over thirty years ago and has apologized and tried to make up for since as a reason to discount a current anti-racist action they take.
When have you ever, even once, had anything critical to say about Israel, or people like Heather Reisman who support their military operations? You've sure got her back, don't you?
Meanwhile, you smear some guy who takes a principled stand against apartheid with a racist comment he made over 30 years ago and has apologized for since.
Maybe if you expended even a fraction of the energy you spend on criticizing Palestinian rights activists here, on criticizing the Israeli government and the people who support them, you'd have more credibility.
You would be right, except that I don't consider what he's doing now to be "anti-racist" at all. Anti-Semitic perhaps. Anti-racist? No.
Figures. And you're lecturing us on "moral authority"?
Whatever. I'm done talking to you in this thread. Maybe others won't bother with you either now that your little smear has been debunked.
I've been quite critical of Heather Reisman and don't shop at Indigo when I'm back home because I don't like their effect on independent bookstores. That's a legitimate concern. I just don't think that the fact that she donates money toprovide college educations to people who've served in the Israeli army to be reasonable grounds for denying her a degree. As for the 'fraction of my energy", it seems like amny haters of Israel spend far more than a fraction of THEIR energy attacking a state which, no doubt, is severely flawed (like Canada, theUnited States and every other country) but whose human rights record is far less concerning than manyother countries in the world. I wish they would spend a fraction of the energy they extend to attacking people for accepting to literary awards to condemning, say, the Iranian government which executes teenagers on the suspicion of being gay.
Little smear? He called somebody the N-word, jsut about the most offensive thing one can say. Pointing out that it was in '79 is only an excuse if if it were 1879. Yeah, I've gotten drunk and said some silly things before. Never called someone that word. How bout you?
Excuse me, I wasn't calling what Costello said "a little smear". I said that you were smearing him by bringing up something terrible that he said 30 years ago, but has apologized and tried to make up for since. I already said above that what he said was stupid and racist and that he deserved to be called on it, so don't try and twist my words into some fantasy where you have me saying that it's not so bad to call people the n-word.
No, I've never calling anyone the n-word, drunk or sober, but I've certainly said some racist things in the past, either out of ignorance, or out of some sort of stupid politically-incorrect-joke bravado.
Yeah, you got me to respond by twisting my words. Congratulations.
31 years ago. And apologized. But he should not be cut any slack? What if he had performed in Israel? Then it would have been okay?
Let's remember that in 1979 Israel was in an alliance with South Africa providing them with arms to crush the resistance to apartheid. I guess it was OK to help kill people as long as they never used the "N word".
Good try.
I think it's crossing a line for any babbler to label people who support BDS "anti-semitic", even with weasel words like "perhaps".
There are a lot of babblers who support BDS. That post is indirectly accusing them of anti-semitism too.
blah blah blah yawn
[poop pic removed by moderator. So sue me.]
Now, first and foremost, one has to realize that if Israel, and the organizers of this event Costello is now boycotting, had issues with Costello's use of the N word over 30 years ago, they would not have invited him to play there, or allowed it.
For Israeli apologists to use his use of the N word, to bash him for following the boycott, is hypocrisy at its worst.
Really, if such was the case of outrage over it, he should not have been invited in the first place.
Did they think they could use his past faux pas to pressure him to play once invited? As he would have to be aware that he would be targeted with it should he refuse...
..am now thinking of the impact on Atwood's book sales, had Chapters Indigo, refused to carry them anymore.....not that I am saying that happened or anything, but it would have been good leverage....
Language is interesting.
People who support BDS are sometimes called anti-semitic.
People who do not support BDS are sometimes called Zionists.
I find both characterizations to be unacceptable.
....Aaand Noveyea is gone.
Too bad about the pic being removed though. It's not often we get a new poster showing ID.
Hmph...I was trying to decide what type of poop it was, and had settled on horse, but was going to ask other babblers what they thought.
And.... I thought it an apt picture of the poop that is now trying to be spread about Costello.
And thanks Michelle, for dispelling that, as I had not heard about that 1979 drunken pissing match, so would not have know about the background to the attempted smear by SCC. Was involved in the BC election heavily that year, and was heavily pregnant.....so my world was not that big.
As I too watch Costello's show, when opportunity arises. The music is great and so are the stories, so I would have hated to have to boycott it, had he stayed on the tour ticket.
[aside]Costello plays himself on Treme a new HBO series about post-Katrina New Orleans. I saw the 1st two episodes and quite liked the show.[/aside]
Looked like bull to me.
I think there is a difference between these two statements though. The first is generally a smear with no bearing in truth when it is applied to Palestinian solidarity activists instead of actual anti-semites.
The second, it seems to me, isn't that far from the definition of "Zionist". Part of the definition of Zionism, at least modern Zionism, is support of the state of Israel and its apartheid practices. It seems as though opposing BDS falls under that column, unless you have a really good explanation for why you don't support the oppression of the Palestinians but actively oppose doing something about it.
It's okay to refer to a liberal as a liberal. It's okay to refer to a Feminist as a Feminist. It's okay to refer to a Zionist as a Zionist. It's not okay to refer to a Palestinian solidarity activist as an anti-semite.
SJ, it looked to flakey to be bull... :D
Ruminant's poop just isn't that flakey and undigested.
Some people use "zionist" as a smear but there's no clear definition of "zionism". Which zionism are people referring to? The secular, socialist zionism of the Israeli founders? THe religious zionism of Rabbi Kook? If someone supports Israel's right to exist, are they, ipso facto, a zionist?
I liked My Aim is True and This Year's Model when they first came out. I waited in rapt anticipation for Emotional Fascism, but wasn't keen on Armed Forces. Get Happy! is garbage, and was released at about the same time that McManus made his Ray Charles comments, after which time I quit listening to his music.
So what? I've been called an anti-feminist for having somewhat nuanced opinions at least a half dozen times on this board when I certainly felt it wasn't justified, and I don't recall anyone losing their hair over it. Maybe people should get thicker skins. In fact, I recall someone being told to do just that in the last couple of days...
What's "socialist" about colonialism? What's "secular" about establishing a religious state?
I would say opposing campaigns against Israeli apartheid such as the BDS campaign would qualify
Depends. What do they mean by "Israel's right to exist"? Do they really mean "Israel's right to exist as an apartheid state"? And do they ask questions and demand others support "Israel's right to exist" while the only nation whose right to exist is seriously threatened and trampled is Palestine? Do they ask this question only to delegitimize the point of view of those who support a one-state solution? How is Israel defined - is it the Israeli state in its current configuration? What about anarchists - is it not logically consistent that those who oppose the existence of all states oppose the existence of the Israeli state?