Rocker Elvis Costello cancels Israel gig

[grassfed]

British rocker Elvis Costello has called off planned gigs in Israel, citing what he called the "intimidation" and "humiliation" of Palestinians.

The singer-songwriter is the latest music star to cancel performances in Israel after rock guitarist Carlos Santana and rap forefather Gil Scott-Heron called off their shows.

"It is after considerable contemplation that I have lately arrived at the decision that I must withdraw from the two performances scheduled in Israel on the 30th of June and the 1st of July," Costello said on his webpage.

"I must believe that the audience for the coming concerts would have contained many people who question the policies of their government on settlement and deplore conditions that visit intimidation, humiliation or much worse on Palestinian civilians in the name of national security," he said.

source

[damntexdem]

1. Good for him.

[azurnoir]

2. Good for all of them

I'm not a Costello fan but I was glad to hear Santana and Heron had both called off their concerts, I was surprised Santana had agreed to it in the first place

[ixion]

3. Well played, Elvis

You're a credit to humanity, and a fine musician. :applause:

[grassfed]

4. Stealing Gaza By BRIAN ENO

It's a tragedy that the Israelis - a people who must understand better than almost anybody the horrors of oppression - are now acting as oppressors. As the great Jewish writer Primo Levi once remarked "Everybody has their Jews, and for the Israelis it's the Palestinians". By creating a middle Eastern version of the Warsaw ghetto they are recapitulating their own history as though they've forgotten it. And by trying to paint an equivalence between the Palestinians - with their homemade rockets and stone-throwing teenagers - and themselves - with one of the most sophisticated military machines in the world - they sacrifice all credibility.

The Israelis are a gifted and resourceful people who fully deserve the right to live in peace, but who seem intent on squandering every chance to allow that to happen. It's difficult to avoid the conclusion that this conflict serves the political and economic purposes of Israel so well that they have every interest in maintaining it. While there is fighting they can continue to build illegal settlements. While there is fighting they continue to receive huge quantities of military aid from the United States. And while there is fighting they can avoid looking candidly at themselves and the ruthlessness into which they are descending.

Gaza is now an experiment in provocation. Stuff one and a half million people into a tiny space, stifle their access to water, electricity, food and medical treatment, destroy their livelihoods, and humiliate them regularly...and, surprise, surprise - they turn hostile. Now why would you want to make that experiment?

Because the hostility you provoke is the whole point. Now 'under attack' you can cast yourself as the victim, and call out the helicopter gunships and the F16 attack fighters and the heavy tanks and the guided missiles, and destroy yet more of the pathetic remains of infrastructure that the Palestinian state still has left. And then you can point to it as a hopeless case, unfit to govern itself, a terrorist state, a state with which you couldn't possibly reach an accommodation.

And then you can carry on with business as usual, quietly stealing their homeland. source

[TomClash]

5. Clowntime is Over, Israel

What's so funny about peace love and understanding?

[Ken Burch]

6. Elvis Costello cancels Israel concerts

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10125493.stm


Singer Elvis Costello has pulled out of two gigs in Israel due to concerns over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The musician, who was due to perform later this summer, said: "Having your name added to a concert schedule may be interpreted as a political act."

Costello said his decision was "a matter of instinct and conscience" and "too grave and complex" to be addressed at a concert.

He apologised to ticket holders and event organisers.
.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Singer Elvis Costello cancels concerts in Israel

Source: Associated Press

Singer Elvis Costello cancels concerts in Israel
The Associated Press
Thursday, May 20, 2010; 5:50 AM

JERUSALEM -- British singer-songwriter Elvis Costello is canceling two summer concerts in Israel because of its treatment of the Palestinians.

In an announcement on his Web site explaining his decision, Costello spoke of "intimidation, humiliation or much worse" inflicted by Israel on the Palestinians.

Costello told The Jerusalem Post earlier this month he was against boycotts, saying it would be like avoiding the U.S. or England because he disagreed with the policies of their governments. Thursday's edition of the paper quoted Costello as explaining his apparent change of heart by saying the issues "became too complex."

Israeli Culture Minister Limor Livnat said a singer who boycotts Israeli fans "is not worthy of performing in front of them."



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/20/AR2010052000734.html

[Kolesar]

8. You could be in Palestine

Overrun by the Chinese line
With the boys from the Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne

[trungpa ricochet]

12. Oliver's Army

This song is 30 years old now, and EC has been aware of this issue all his life. I'm very glad to see him do this boycott now.

:yourock:

[truthisfreedom]

9. Livnat said a singer who boycotts Israeli fans "is not worthy-

Dude, you're not worthy.

[Darth_Kitten]

15. Oh, he's worthy alright.....

He doesn't owe them anything.

[Tunkamerica]

10. It's weird he'd suddenly decide to boycott after all these years

not to say it's a bad decision

[robinblue]

13. seeing the light sometimes takes time.

[The Damned]

11. Good for him!

Remember Steven van Zandt?

[McCamy Taylor]

14. Palestinian causes are more popular in Europe, where Costello's fan base is stronger.

I see nothing odd about this at all.