OPEN LETTER to Big Thief which recently canceled a concert in Israel
Dear Adrianne, Buck, James, and Max (Big Thief),
Right after you canceled your concert date in Tel Aviv in response to BDS pressure, I reacted emotionally and called you cowards who should be ashamed of yourselves on social media.
I regret that; I should have given a more nuanced response.
I know that artists are also victimized by the BDS crusade to destroy Israel. I have been talking about that for over a decade. I know about the avalanche of phone calls, emails, social media posts, and protests that make you feel hunted. The accusation that - if you keep your concert date in Israel - YOU are responsible for the pain and suffering of the Palestinian people. I understand the fear that BDS creates. The fear of a tarnished reputation, a damaged career, and too often, the terrifying prospect of harm to yourselves or your loved ones.
I have great compassion for artists under BDS fire. Despite the ugliness, however, very few cancel. And here’s the irony: those who keep their concert dates suffer little to no damage to their reputations or careers. The people who plague you on social media and barrage you with emails and calls are not your fans. Your fans are the people who bought tickets for your shows at the Barby.
When I saw that you would donate the proceeds of your concert date to help Palestinian children, I saw four human beings trying to do the right thing. But I know, and now you know, that despite its demagoguery, BDS arrogantly rejects help for the Palestinian people and reconciliation with their Israeli neighbors.
When I first heard that you canceled your two shows in Tel Aviv in a post on Instagram, I assumed that, like some others, you needed a way out and like a POW had signed a “confession” to stop the pain. Max’s dad, musician Alon Oleartchik, certainly alluded to that when he told Kan public broadcasting, that the band “received thousands of threats… the reaction they received for [announcing] a performance in Israel was awful and terrible. They were crushed by it.”
However, most artists who cancel to escape the hurricane typically explain their cancellation by saying their performance has been politicized or that they do not want to take sides, or, better yet, speak openly about the harassment and threats that made the concert date impossible for them. Those artists deserve our empathy.
Your subsequent Instagram post, however, rang a different bell. You seem to suggest that you wish to dive deeper into the morass and possibly support the BDS campaign.
You made some political comments echoing BDS talking points but don’t appear to have wrestled with the issues at hand.
You said, “To be clear, we oppose the illegal occupation...”
The “illegal occupation” where? Are you referring to the Jews living in the West Bank/Judea and Samaria? In Jerusalem? In the Golan? Or do you, like BDS, believe that all of Israel is illegally occupied?
You said, “We believe in total freedom and self-determination for all Palestinians.”
Do you also believe in the total freedom and self-determination of Jews in their indigenous, ancient homeland? If not, why not? How do you think that the right of return for the almost 6 million descendants of the 1948 Palestinian refugees, which is a central tenet in the BDS campaign, will play out for the Jews in real life?
You said, “Since announcing these shows in Israel we have been in constant dialogue with friends, family, BDS supporters and allies, Palestinians, and Israeli citizens who are committed to the fight for justice for Palestinians. It has been the only thing on our minds and in our hearts.”
Who else did you speak to? Any voices who spoke of Israel's innumerable offers of peace and independence for the Palestinian people that have been roundly and repeatedly rejected? Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak offered the Palestinians a state with its capital in Jerusalem, a return of approximately 97 percent of the West Bank (a land swap for the remaining 3%), all the Gaza Strip, sovereignty over Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem, and a $30 billion compensation package for refugees. They responded with the Second Intifada. If Barak’s offer didn’t satisfy them, what do you think will?
And then you said, “We understand that withholding our cultural labor alone cannot be the only action we take. We have more learning to do so we can take more informed action.”
What kind of action? Are you now identifying with your hostage-takers? Are you considering joining the merry band of BDS bullies and torturing your fellow musicians who just want to perform for their Israeli fans? Encouraging international venues to discriminate against Jewish Israeli artists? Are you going to sign statements and sermonize from on high?
Or are you going to try to create antidotes to the unrest, distrust, and war? Enrich lives with more access to art? Support musical collaboration? Organize an International Peace Concert to promote reconciliation?
Artists transform culture by affecting individuals. They can serve as role models for society. I hope you’ll choose to be a good one.
Sincerely,
Lana Melman
Author of Artists Under Fire: The BDS War against Celebrities, Jews, and Israel