Roger Waters, Thousands More Petition the Chemical Brothers to Cancel Tel Aviv Show

Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters is among a list of artists who have signed a letter from Artists for Palestine UK urging the Chemical Brothers to cancel a show in Israel to show solidarity with a cultural boycott of the country. The electronic duo are scheduled to play Tel Aviv Convention Center on November 12. “Tel Aviv’s hipster vibe is a bubble on the surface of a very deep security state that drove out half the indigenous Palestinian population in 1948 and has no intention of letting their descendants back in,” the letter reads. “If you go to Tel Aviv, your presence will be used by the Israeli authorities to reassure their citizens that all’s right with the world and nobody really cares that the Palestinians are suffering… Please don’t go.” 

Other signees of the letter include playwright Caryl Churchill, poet Liz Lochhead, and actress Maxine Peake.

Additionally, over 7,000 people have signed a petition asking the Chemical Brothers to boycott Israel. “Israeli government officials have summed up how Israel exploits culture in order to cover up its severe violations of international law,” the petition says. “When international artists, such as the Chemical Brothers, perform at Israeli cultural venues and institutions, they help to create the false impression that Israel is a ‘normal’ country just like any other.”

Waters has been a longtime outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights. Earlier this year, he, David Gilmour, and Nick Mason “reunited” as Pink Floyd in support of a pro-Palestinian activist group.

 

Comments are closed.