The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel doesn’t seem very big here in America. Meaning, it doesn’t feel like BDS is a cultural thing that we talk about that often, and American artists aren’t forced to speak about why they continue to perform in Israel. It feels like BDS is more of a European thing, and many British and European performers boycott Israel when it comes to touring. BDS started as a “complete cultural boycott of Israel until Palestinians are granted the ‘right of return’ and Israel’s West Bank barrier is dismantled.” Basically, until a two-state solution happens, BDS asks that artists boycott any and all performances in Israel.
Radiohead is not one of those bands participating in a boycott though. The last date of their A Moon Shaped Pool Tour will be in Tel Aviv in July. It will be their first tour stop in Israel since the BDS movement began in 2005. It’s become a thing, actually. According to Rolling Stone, more than “50 prominent figures, including Roger Waters, Desmond Tutu, Thurston Moore and TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe, signed a petition urging Radiohead to cancel the show.” At Radiohead’s concerts, banners are being held up, bashing the band for playing at “the ‘apartheid’ state of Israel.” Rolling Stone did a cover story with Radiohead in the newest issue, and Thom Yorke was asked directly about all of this. I came away really impressed with the nuance of his position. Here’s what he has to say:
“I’ll be totally honest with you: this has been extremely upsetting. There’s an awful lot of people who don’t agree with the BDS movement, including us. I don’t agree with the cultural ban at all, along with J.K. Rowling, Noam Chomsky and a long list of others. There are people I admire [who have been critical of the concert] like [English film director] Ken Loach, who I would never dream of telling where to work or what to do or think. The kind of dialogue that they want to engage in is one that’s black or white. I have a problem with that. It’s deeply distressing that they choose to, rather than engage with us personally, throw sh-t at us in public. It’s deeply disrespectful to assume that we’re either being misinformed or that we’re so retarded we can’t make these decisions ourselves. I thought it was patronizing in the extreme. It’s offensive and I just can’t understand why going to play a rock show or going to lecture at a university [is a problem to them].
The university thing is more of a head f–k for me. It’s like, really? You can’t go talk to other people who want to learn stuff in another country? Really? The one place where you need to be free to express everything you possibly can. You want to tell these people you can’t do that? And you think that’s gonna help?
The person who knows most about these things is [Radiohead guitarist] Jonny [Greenwood]. He has both Palestinian and Israeli friends and a wife who’s an Arab Jew. All these people to stand there at a distance throwing stuff at us, waving flags, saying, “You don’t know anything about it!” Imagine how offensive that is for Jonny. And imagine how upsetting that it’s been to have this out there. Just to assume that we know nothing about this. Just to throw the word “apartheid” around and think that’s enough. It’s f–king weird. It’s such an extraordinary waste of energy. Energy that could be used in a more positive way.
This is the first time I’ve said anything about it. Part of me wants to say nothing because anything I say cooks up a fire from embers. But at the same time, if you want me to be honest, yeah, it’s really upsetting that artists I respect think we are not capable of making a moral decision ourselves after all these years. They talk down to us and I just find it mind-boggling that they think they have the right to do that. It’s extraordinary.
…All of this creates divisive energy. You’re not bringing people together. You’re not encouraging dialogue or a sense of understanding. Now if you’re talking about trying to make things progress in any society, if you create division, what do you get? You get f–king Theresa May. You get [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, you get f–king Trump. That’s divisive.
What I appreciate is that he’s actually thought long and hard about whether boycotting Israel is the right thing to do, and he’s come down on the side of no boycott. Thom Yorke didn’t fall backwards into a controversy, he didn’t walk into Tel Aviv, not understanding where he stood. He’s refusing to boycott Israel because he doesn’t believe a boycott will do anything, and because he believes the power of cultural and artistic exchange is a better option than an all-or-nothing approach.
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
