CCFP slammed Waters and 50 other anti-Israel activists for calling on Radiohead to cancel a concert in Israel this summer.
Several high profile cultural figures, including notorious anti-Israel activist Roger Waters and Alice Walker, have signed an open letter calling on Radiohead to cancel their upcoming performance in Israel and boycott the Jewish state.
Creative Community for Peace, an organization of prominent members of the entertainment industry dedicated to promoting the arts as a means to peace and to countering the cultural boycott of Israel, came out against Waters’ call.
The CCFP is made up of music executives and music representatives of bands including Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, and Justin Timberlake.
The organization said that at this time it has confirmation that Radiohead has no plans to cancel its Tel Aviv gig.
CCFP published a response to Waters’ open letter calling for Radiohead to boycott Israel.
CCFP said that Waters’ letter is “filled with inaccurate accusations against Israel, including false claims of ‘apartheid’ and genocide.’”
“Trying to appeal to artists’ natural empathy for the downtrodden, the boycott movement falsely characterizes the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement as an organization seeking peace and justice, and drives the prospect of peace further away,” CCFP declared.
“The cultural boycott is built on the premise that there can be no dialogue or communication between Israel and the rest of the world and that Israel should be ostracized, demonized and bears sole responsibility for the problems of the region. To support this, Israel is branded as an apartheid state when in fact it is the only democracy in the region where all its citizens are subject to the same laws and are in fact free,” the letter said.
CCFP applaud Radiohead for choosing two Israeli bands, one Jewish and one Arab, to open for them on their US tour, “sending the powerful message to the world that coexistence is entirely possible, and music can be a catalyst for making it happen.”
“Unfortunately, artists continue to be subjected to tremendous pressure from some of our peers in the entertainment community. Rather than expend this energy to divide, we hope that one day these groups and individuals will band together to unite. We invite them to sit at the table with us and work side by side to be sure no one is silenced,” CCFP concluded.
Despite BDS’ efforts, Radiohead is slated to join a long list of front-line performers and bands scheduled to rock Tel Aviv in the summer of 2017, including Britney Spears, Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses, Justin Bieber, Duran Duran, Bryan Adams, and Nick Cave.
By: Max Gelber, United with Israel
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Source: United with Israel
