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Israel/Zionism See other Israel/Zionism Articles Title: Nick Cave: The Palestinians, not you, are censored, bullied and silenced - by Israel Nick Cave: The Palestinians, not you, are censored, bullied and silenced - by Israel Frank Barat 23 November 2017 09:11 UTC | Last update: 1 year 6 months ago What's more important than a sensitive artist's ability to perform wherever he likes without being made to feel ashamed for turning a blind eye to the brutal and systematic repression of the voiceless? Poor Nick Cave. You have to feel sorry for the internationally acclaimed Aussie rock star and his band, the Bad Seeds, when human rights activists and a handful of fellow artists call on them to uphold a plea by a people repressed for decades by one of the most heavily armed nations on earth. In a press conference on the eve of his two Tel Aviv gigs last weekend, Nick said he felt censored, bullied and silenced. The last thing a rock star needs on flying into a country imposing the longest military occupation in modern history is to have to deal with moral compunction as well as jet lag, surely. Israeli apartheid Like Radiohead, who were similarly "harassed" by a bunch of do-gooders to cancel their Tel Aviv date months ago, Nick Cave made no mention whatsoever of the millions of Palestinians subjected to Israeli apartheid who have asked international artists to boycott Israel to support their non-violent struggle for self-determination. I mean, why bother? When in Rome, right? So when in Israel, you ignore the occupation and the occupied, who are routinely treated as sub-human by their colonial rulers. Nick is Australian, after all, so he'll be familiar with that game. Fans wait to attend a concert by Radiohead in Tel Aviv on 19 July after the band defied boycott calls from prominent artists to play in Israel (AFP) What it boils down to, he insinuated, is this: What's more important than a sensitive artist's ability to make his millions wherever he likes without being made to feel ashamed for turning a blind eye to the brutal and systematic repression of the voiceless – and nameless – people who have asked him to stay away until justice is served? And as for those artists who have tried to give a voice to those dispossessed of their voice by Israel and its allies, like Roger Waters and Brian Eno, whom he named during his press conference? How dare they? How dare they engage in a public humiliation to try to "silence" Nick and others in the name of justice. (Eno, Waters and other artists and pro-Palestinian groups responded in a statement. "We regret that in a land of injustice Nick Cave is giving comfort to the unjust," said the statement.) No one appreciates nor needs that public humiliation, Cave noted. Except for millions of Palestinians who face daily public humiliation at the hands of their Israeli oppressors, of course – but Cave wasn't in Israel to perform to them even if they could somehow get beyond scores of checkpoints and over Israel's illegal separation wall to the gigs. Poster Comment: I know this concert series over there is long over. But this article typifies what has been going on there for decades. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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