Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and Israeli Dudu Tassa criticize the hypocrisy of those defending free speech for some while silencing others, after their planned UK shows were canceled due to BDS pressure.
Musicians Jonny Greenwood and Dudu Tassa sharply criticized what they describe as politically motivated intimidation that led to the cancellation of their scheduled concerts in the UK, the Jewish Chronicle reported.
The pair said serious threats targeting both the venues and their staff forced them to call off performances next month in Bristol and London.
In a public letter they released, Greenwood—best known as Radiohead’s guitarist—and Tassa, a prominent figure in Israeli rock, detailed the threats received by the Beacon Hall in Bristol and Hackney Church in London.
They wrote, “Enough credible threats [were made] to conclude that it’s not safe to proceed,” adding that venue staff bore no blame.
The cancellation followed efforts by activists associated with the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to pressure venues into cutting ties with the duo.
One local group, the Bristol Palestine Alliance, accused the artists of “supporting the Gaza holocaust” and urged a boycott. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel welcomed the cancellation, claiming the concert would have “whitewashed Israel’s genocide.”
Greenwood and Tassa, however, refuted claims that the cancellations had nothing to do with silencing artists.
“The campaign which has successfully stopped the concerts insist that ‘this is not censorship’ and ‘this isn’t about silencing music or attacking individual artists’,” they wrote. “But its organizers 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.”
They continued, “Intimidating venues into pulling our shows won’t help achieve the peace and justice everyone in the Middle East deserves. This cancellation will be hailed as a victory by the campaigners behind it, but we see nothing to celebrate and don’t find that anything positive has been achieved.”
The pair also cited a recent statement from supporters of the Northern Irish group Kneecap, who face scrutiny from UK authorities over controversial remarks. That statement reads. “As artists, we feel the need to register our opposition to any political repression of artistic freedom … In a democracy, no political figures or political parties should have the right to dictate who does and does not play at music festivals or gigs that will be enjoyed by thousands of people.”
Greenwood and Tassa commented: “Nor should anyone. 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.”
Greenwood and Tassa have been collaborating and releasing music since 2008 and have continued to perform together despite pressure on Greenwood to cancel his shows with Tassa.
Last June, Greenwood refused pressure from BDS to cancel his tour with Tassa, and criticized their call as “unprogressive”.
BDS has long urged musicians to call off shows in Israel or cancel collaborations with Israeli artists. While a number of politically active musicians have heeded to the pressure, a range of others have rejected the boycott call.
In 2017, before a Radiohead concert in Tel Aviv, dozens of artists, including notorious anti-Israel activist Roger Waters, sent a letter to the band urging its to cancel the concert in order to “pressure Israel to end its violation of basic rights and international law.”
Thom Yorke, the band’s frontman, fired back at the boycott calls, calling them “an extraordinary waste of energy”. The band went ahead with the Tel Aviv show.
