Omar Barghouti on Matisyahu: 'Perfectly reasonable to oppose performance by any bigot'
Jewish American rapper Matisyahu (the stage name of Matthew Paul Miller) was disinvited from a music festival in Spain because of his support for Israel. Organizers of the Rototom Sunsplash European Reggae Festival say they were pressured to cancel the performance by supporters of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement—an international movement that, through peaceful economic means, seeks to pressure Israel to abide by international law and ends its illegal military occupation of the Palestinians.
After Spain’s foreign ministry condemned the cancellation of the performance, the festival apologized and re-invited Matisyahu.
Denying accusations that the decision to cancel Matisyahu’s performance was motivated in any way by anti-Semitism, Spanish BDS activists maintain that they objected to Matisyahu’s “incitement to racial hatred and his defense of Israeli war crimes, including in his lyrics,” and “his hateful and racist views that dehumanize Palestinians and justify their oppression.”
The Spanish human rights activists explained:
As activists motivated by our commitment to full equality and human rights, irrespective of identity, we approached the festival organizers calling for the cancellation of Matisyahu’s concert in this year’s edition of the festival after learning of his participation. The reasons for our outrage was clear in our messaging: Matisyahu’s repeated defense of Israeli war crimes and gross violations of human rights, incitement to racial hatred, and connections to extremist and violent fundamentalist groups in Israel stand in direct contradiction to the human rights and peace principles and spirit of this festival.
The activists also emphasized that, although “the media has portrayed this effort as part of the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, we wish to make clear that our efforts are outside the remit of the cultural boycott of Israel as per the guidelines issued by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).”
Supporters of the boycott argue that although Matisyahu is not involved with the Israeli government, he has has done more than just support Israel verbally.
Revealed by the Spanish BDS activists is the fact that “Matisyahu’s lyricist, Ephraim Rosenstien, is himself a settler in an illegal West Bank colony. Rosenstein is associated with Honenu, an Israeli legal organization that defends settler terrorists who violently attack Palestinians to push them off their lands.”
On his official Facebook page, the musician claims he is not interested in politics, writing “My music speaks for itself, and I do not insert politics into my music.”
Does his claim that his music is apolitical stand up to closer scrutiny?
Jewish Studies Professor Charles Manekin argues no. On his blog, the scholar defended the decision to cancel Matisyahu’s performance. Manekin drew attention to a 2012 interview in which Matisyahu rehashed anti-Palestinian propaganda, claiming, “as far as I understand, there was never a country called Palestine.”
Manekin also points out that Matisyahu headlined a “pro-Zionist festival,” and notes that, at the height of Israel’s attack on Gaza in the summer of 2014, Matisyahu posted “on his Facebook page a one-sided defense of Israel’s actions in Gaza by hasbarita [singer] Sara Merson.”
“An artist who has politicized his work should not be surprised if he is called out on it,” Manekin states.
Although Matisyahu may call himself an apolitical artist, the facts appear to indicate he is far from it.
Source: mondoweiss.net