It’s a hit piece on musicians for playing in a country the writer hates. Also it’s not even clear that they’ve played in Israel in the past two years… quotes from Nick Cave were from 2022 and the quote from Radiohead is from 2017.
It’s really ugly when people are researching anyone that has ever been to Israel so they can target them for a hit piece. Like what’s going on here?
Thom Yorke’s quote seems reasonable:
Playing in a country isn’t the same as endorsing its government. We don’t endorse [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu any more than Trump, but we still play in America.
I mean yeah, was it morally wrong to visit the US when Trump was President? Was it wrong to go to the US while the Iraq war was happening and people were being tortured in GitMo? Is it wrong to go to the US now?
Yeah I feel like Radiohead cancelling a tour date in Tel Aviv isn’t going to result in Netanyahu making compromises at the bargaining table. It’s just guys like Roger Waters (a tankie Putin simp) thinking they’re more important than they really are. It’s sort of like that time Dennis Rodman went to north Korea or Sean Penn went to Iraq to try to negotiate deals with various authoritarians. Just celebrities with big egos thinking they matter in an area where they’re way out of their element. Play music for your fans in Israel or don’t play music there, either way it doesn’t change anything.
Honestly I think the whole “the world needs to turn against all of Israel” idea is doing more harm than good. Expressing hatred towards an entire country doesn’t facilitate negotiation.