Artists under fire: the BDS war against celebrities, Jews, and Israel

Written by Roza I.M. El-Eini for Taylor and Franchise. Originally published on July 4, 2024.

Thank you, Roza I.M. El-Eini, for your wonderful review of my book, “Artists Under Fire,” in the Israel Affairs section of the Taylor and Francise website.

Please enjoy his article in full here:

Not a day goes by without a malign comment being made against Israel by someone in the arts and entertainment industry, whilst artists and entertainers planning to visit the Jewish state are threatened and their performances are disrupted and cancelled. Lana Melman addresses these issues in her book, Artists under Fire, focusing on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in what she rightly describes as a ‘war against celebrities, Jews and Israel’.

The book opens with a reminder of how the author’s parents’ generation grew up in Los Angeles, where there were shop and restaurant signs that said, ‘No Negroes … No Jews … No dogs allowed’ (13). Whilst working in Hollywood as an entertainment attorney and then creative executive-turned-writer-producer, Melman hoped those days had passed, only to have to deal with the effects of the BDS movement. Through her work, first in the non-profit Creative Community for Peace and then in Liberate Art, which she set up in 2015, numerous artists and their representatives have been contacted, averting many cancelled performances in Israel.

The aim of Melman’s book is to make people aware of the anti-Israel cultural boycott campaign, which is possibly the ‘most dangerous facet’ of BDS activities, because it is glamorous and ‘billions of people’ can be reached by its exploitation of artists and art (16). The book is structured around four elements Melman identifies in order to understand the BDS campaign: how it works, which artists support it, why it is so dangerous and how to talk about it.

In chapter after chapter, the author indicates the anti-Semitism expressed in the accusations of Israeli transgressions and Palestinian rights, and she rejects BDS claims that the reason for the difficult living conditions of the Palestinians is the existence of Israel. Keen observations throughout the book define the essence of the vast subject encompassing the anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism animating BDS.

Set up in 2005, the BDS campaign has permeated the arts and entertainment industry, adding to the long and often tragic history of anti-Semitic boycotts. In an interview with this reviewer about her book, Melman remarked on the ‘huge miscalculation’ of established Jewish organisations that responded to the cultural boycott campaign that ‘took off around 2010/2011 and continues today’ with an ‘against all hate’ approach. Hate against Jews is unique, she noted, and must be confronted as such.

Fluent in the language of the enlightened left, BDS falsely claims its cause is ‘human rights’ and that its methods are ‘non-violent’ (73). Yet its methods include intimidation, whilst reputations are ruined and censorship is imposed by controlling the content and distribution of art using tactics reminiscent of totalitarian regimes. Both known and unknown artists and entertainers suffer. Because of their wide influence, major artists and entertainers are targeted to peddle BDS. They are messaged about their important role as ‘agents of peace’ (81), and coerced into supporting BDS. Some are deliberately misrepresented as BDS supporters after being pressured into cancelling visits to Israel. Cultural exchanges are stymied and art lovers are faced with restricted choices, as well as censorship and threats of violence on the steps of venues featuring Israeli artists.

Each charge laid against Israel by the BDS movement is shown to be founded on anti-Semitism and examined in turn, from accusations of committing war crimes and using asymmetric and disproportionate force to colonialism, apartheid and genocide. To counter these accusations, Melman advises that knowledge-based responses be given, point by point.

The author astutely observes BDS tactics, displaying the movement’s vehement ‘multifaceted campaign’ of pursuing artists and entertainers who want to perform for their Israeli fans. Statements, petitions, ‘open letters’, calls, emails, memes, repurposed songs, Photoshopped images, comments on social media, advertisements, protests and demonstrations are poured out in a flood to become ‘news’. Middle Eastern and Arab Israeli artists are also menacingly targeted into submission, and false claims are then made of BDS victory. Few festivals are held without BDS announcing itself. The demonstrations in Malmö, Sweden, against the Israeli Eurovision 2024 contestant, Eden Golan, exemplifies the BDS movement’s aggression towards Israel and Israeli artists, and mirrors the pro-Palestinian demonstrations across Western college campuses that have been held since the atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel on 7 October 2023 and the consequent war in Gaza.

The trajectory of noxious BDS activism is analysed through many examples, including of artists and entertainers who were able to stand up to the onslaught. To counter the BDS war of inflammatory rhetoric and lies, the author provides specific advice at the end of each chapter about distinct contexts.

For readers who might consider themselves removed from the issue, Melman sounds a warning that the inherent risk is to audiences everywhere, and that they should be supportive of artists and entertainers under fire. In her interview, the author stated that what is needed now is ‘a galvanized grassroots movement pushing back against the anti-Israel disinformation and thinly veiled antisemitism in BDS propaganda’.

Anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism are mutual accelerants fuelling the cultural pogrom against Israel, the Jewish people and the Western world. Compact and didactic, Artists under Fire is a very well-written and well-structured book that should be standard reading in order to expose the pernicious nature of carefully orchestrated anti-Semitic dogma and the insidious way it has infiltrated almost every facet of society.

See the original article here.