Portishead and Wolf Alice are the latest bands to join the cultural boycott of Israel
Portishead and Wolf Alice are the most recent bands to join hundreds of artists in boycotting Israel over the country’s ongoing conflict with Palestine.
Last week, at least 52 Palestinians were killed and hundreds were injured after Israeli forces opened fire on people protesting against the US Embassy being moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The Israel Defence Forces downplayed the violence, insisting that they killed three “terrorists” and struck five “terrorist targets”. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to Twitter to say that the military was acting in self-defence. “Every country has an obligation to defend its borders,” he tweeted.
Now, hundreds of artists are lending their support for a cultural boycott of Israel by sharing a message of protest across social media.
The message, which was shared via the social media accounts of Portishead, Wolf Alice and a few other artists, reads: “As long as the Israeli government commits war crimes against the Palestinian people, we support their call for a boycott of Israel as a means of peaceful protest against the brutal occupation.”
Portishead and Wolf Alice join a growing number of artists participating in a cultural boycott of Israel. Other supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (also known as the BDS Movement) include musicians Roger Waters, Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Thurston Moore, and Kathleen Hanna, actors Mark Ruffalo and John Cusack, and writers Angela Davis and David Edgar.
Last year, Lorde bowed to pressure and canceled a scheduled concert in Tel Aviv, whereas Nick Cave went through with his gig to “make a principled stand against anyone who wants to censor and silence musicians.”
Radiohead, too, resisted calls to cancel their show in Tel Aviv last summer. Interestingly enough, as a member of Radiohead’s touring band, Portishead drummer Clive Deamer participated in that concert.
Other artists to have recently joined the BDS Movement include Carl Barat + The Jackals, Hookworms, Shame, Reverend & The Makers, Honeyblood, Slave, SOAK, The Hunna, Fickle Friends, Hookworms and more. You can see their message of protest via their social media channels below:
In related news, Patti Smith, the Libertines and Thurston Moore have been dubbed as headliners to perform the HOPING for Palestine charity show taking place in London, in support of Palestinian refugees.
“HOPING stands for Hope and Optimism for Palestinians in the Next Generation,” the event description reads. “It is a charitable foundation that provides grants to organizations working with Palestinian refugee children living in refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza. The concert is our way to shine a light on the remarkable young Palestinians that HOPING is proud to support.”
