Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood announced the cancellation of shows with an Israeli musician in the United Kingdom after he said a campaign by a pro-Palestinian group led to “enough credible threats to conclude that it’s not safe to proceed.”
Greenwood said he would no longer perform in Bristol and London in June with longtime collaborator Dudu Tassa, an Israeli rock star, as well as an ensemble of singers from Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait and Iraq.
The campaign was carried out by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, which decried the musician’s collaboration with Tassa, the grandson of famed Iraqi Jewish composer Daoud Al-Kuwaity, who emigrated to Israel in 1951.
In a post on X, PACBI denied that its campaign had led to safety threats but said Greenwood and Tassa bear “well-documented complicity in artwashing genocide.”
Greenwood and Tassa said in their extensive statement that they had also received backlash from “some on the right” who say the duo’s recent Arabic folk album is “too inclusive.” The album features a host of musicians from across the Middle East including a Palestinian singer, Nour Freteikh.
“This project has always had a difficult, narrow channel to navigate. We find ourselves in the odd position of being condemned by both ends of the political spectrum,” they wrote.
“For some on the right, we’re playing the ‘wrong’ kind of music — too inclusive, too aware of the rich and beautiful diversity of Middle Eastern culture. For some on the left, we’re only playing it to absolve ourselves of our collective sins,” the duo continued. “We dread the weaponization of this cancellation by reactionary figures as much as we lament its celebration by some progressives.”
They called for freedom of expression for artists “regardless of their citizenship or their religion — and certainly regardless of the decisions made by their government.”
Greenwood, who is married to Israeli visual artist Sharona Katan, has repeatedly faced — and rebuffed — criticism over his stance on Israel.
In 2017, Tassa and Israeli musician Shye Ben Tzur opened for Radiohead and were targeted by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. Ahead of the band’s 2017 concert in Tel Aviv, lead singer Thom Yorke called the criticism “offensive.”
Last summer, Greenwood rejected calls to cancel his tour with Tassa after the pair made an album together titled “Jarak Qaribak,” or “Your Neighbor is Your Friend” in Arabic.
The new controversy comes as other prominent musicians face criticism for their activism surrounding the war in Gaza. Last month, the Irish rap group Kneecap received backlash for cheering, “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah” at a concert last year. They also projected “F–k Israel. Free Palestine.” during their Coachella performance last month. Following criticism, they denounced Hamas and Hezbollah.
Greenwood and Tassa cited the Kneecap controversy in their address on X, noting that dozens of artists denounced “political repression of artistic freedom” in a statement supporting the band.
“We have no judgment 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,” the pair wrote.
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