Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood posted a statement about his cancelled shows with Israeli musician Dudu Tassa. The guitarist addressed the cancellation of the upcoming concerts due to safety concerns stemming from threats received by the venue. The duo was to perform on June 23 and 25 at the Bristol Beacon and Hackney Church to perform their album Jarak Qaribak, which featured reinterpretations of Arabic love songs.
“Forcing musicians not to perform and denying people who want to hear them an opportunity to do so is self-evidently a method of censorship and silencing,” he continued. “Intimidating venues into pulling our shows won’t help achieve the peace and justice everyone in the Middle East deserves. This cancellation will be hailed as a victory by the campaigners behind it, but we see nothing to celebrate and don’t find that anything positive has been achieved,” stated Greenwood.
“The venues and their blameless staff have received enough credible threats to conclude that it’s not safe to proceed,” the artist added.
The guitarist also referenced a statement signed by over 100 artists on the rap trio Kneecap, according to NME. Several politicians are trying to remove the band from many festival line-ups for the upcoming summer based on the concert footage of the band “calling for the death of Conservative MPs,” and for allegedly supporting terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
“We have no judgement to pass on Kneecap but note how sad it is that those supporting their freedom of expression are the same ones most determined to restrict ours.”
Greenwood then concluded by stating he hoped his music with Tassa would one day be heard, adding in: “If that happens, it won’t be a victory for any country, religion, or political cause. It’ll be a victory for our shared love and respect of the music – and of each other.”
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