Caetano Veloso Loves Israel, But Won’t Be Going Back
For most Brazilians, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank is far from a pressing concern. But in recent months, one of Brazil’s most prominent figures, a revered singer, has found himself wrestling with a dilemma directly related to Israel’s continuing control over the territory, which is home to millions of Palestinians.
The musician, Caetano Veloso, visited the West Bank this summer before a concert in Tel Aviv.
Mr. Veloso’s decision to perform in Israel, with his friend Gilberto Gil, was celebrated there because the two men had rejected pleas from the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, known as B.D.S., to cancel their show.
Although their Tropicália music has a gentle beauty, Mr. Veloso and Mr. Gil are deeply political, so much so that in the 1960s the generals who ruled Brazil had them jailed and then forced into exile.
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Before the start of their summer tour, the musicians were visited by two Brazilians from the B.D.S. campaign, which is explicitly modeled on the anti-apartheid movement of the 1980s, which included a cultural boycott. The young activists even took letters in support of the boycott from two veterans of that earlier campaign, Desmond Tutu and Roger Waters.
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