[IsraelTimes] Musicians Jonny Greenwood and Dudu Tassa, along with their ensemble, post a lengthy response on social media to a decision to cancel their June 23 and June 25 shows in Bristol and London.
The Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement had claimed the cancellations as a victory, while Greenwood and Tassa say that they canceled the shows due to credible threats against their performance venues and audiences.
The musicians say that the organizers of the BDS campaign who claim that stopping the concerts isn’t censorship “can’t have it both ways.”
“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,” write Tassa and Greenwood. “Intimidating venues into pulling our shows won’t help achieve the peace and justice everyone in the Middle East deserves.”
The duo point out that their latest tour features singers from Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait and Iraq, who have ancestral and musical roots from across the Middle East, including Yemen and Turkey, and a shared love of Arabic song.
Greenwood, who is married to Israeli artist Sharona Katan, has often partnered with Tassa, along with artists throughout the Middle East.
Tassa and Greenwood add that art exists above and beyond politics, and art that seeks to establish a common identity of musicians across borders should be encouraged, not decried.
“This project has always had a difficult, narrow channel to navigate,” they write. “We find ourselves in the odd position of being condemned by both ends of the political spectrum.”
The artists also refer to Irish hip-hop band Kneecap, which received support from fellow artists amid an ongoing police investigation. Some of the band’s shows were canceled following provocative statements made by band members that supported the Hamas and Hezbollah terror groups and called for the murder of Conservative Party lawmakers.
“We have no judgement 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,” they write.
“We agree completely with people who ask: ‘how can this be more important than what’s happening in Gaza and Israel?’ They’re right — it isn’t. How could it be? What, in anyone’s upcoming cultural life, is?” write Greenwood and Tassa.
They express admiration for the performers in the band, particularly the Arab musicians and singers, for showing “amazing bravery and conviction in contributing to their first record and touring with them.”
