Israel’s apartheid regime salutes Nick Cave
Musician and writer Nick Cave declared at a press conference on Sunday that he wanted to ‘make a principled stand’ by crossing the Palestinian boycott picket line, dismissing widespread calls to cancel his group the Bad Seeds’ two concerts in Tel Aviv. Cave’s words have found him a new fan-base in the form of Israel’s government: there has been an outpouring of public endorsements from its foreign ministry and diplomatic missions across Europe, the U.S., and Australia, as well as from numerous lobby groups.
We have sampled, and reproduced below, tweets from ten Israeli government bodies and spokespeople and seven lobby groups, all of which work hard to counter the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) human rights movement and promote Israel’s interests.
Nick Cave declared his love for Israel, and the Israeli regime reciprocated, providing further proof, if any were needed, of the propaganda value to Israel of appearances by international artists. Cave has gifted Israel’s government a PR coup. Yet Israel’s imposition of decades of military occupation and apartheid against the indigenous Palestinian population is increasingly being challenged by principled solidarity, including from artists. Instead of helping Israel’s regime to whitewash its violations of Palestinian human rights, we invite Cave to support those working for freedom and rights for all.
1. Israeli government and embassies
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson:
Bravo @nick cave for resisting #BDS ! @rogerwaters may be a great musician but he promotes an ideology of boycott and hatred and does NOT promote peace. “The dark side of the goon” indeed….😊 https://t.co/K55GeOMl7a
— Emmanuel Nahshon 🎗️ (@EmmanuelNahshon) November 20, 2017
Diplomat, spokesperson for the Embassy of Israel, Washington, DC:
.@nickcave: #BDS is the reason for my trip to #Israel.
"I like Israel and Israelis, and it's important for me to do something of substance about this." #BDSFAIL https://t.co/9LjgF4LdDZ— Itai Bardov (@ItaiBardov) November 19, 2017
Incredible statement by @nickcave, speaking against @rogerwaters’ fear tactics and his attempts to silence #FreeSpeech and musical expression of other musicians.
Mr. Waters, there’s a saying in Hebrew: “you can’t stop this melody”!
🇮🇱 🎶 https://t.co/LKKeTFhDBq— Itai Bardov (@ItaiBardov) November 22, 2017
Consulate General of Israel in New York:
Thank you, @nickcave, for standing with #Israel & against the dark forces of #BDS!
🔗 https://t.co/hZ2E9AdwuL(Pic: Bleddyn Butcher – https://t.co/u1yxB8wbnG used under @creativecommons license https://t.co/iXPACEBWUk) pic.twitter.com/MdqOU6NH54
— Israel in New York (@IsraelinNewYork) November 21, 2017
BDS is full of hate and discrimination. When musician Nick Cave was asked to sign an artists' pledge for BDS, he said he felt on a “very intuitive level” that he did not want to. Cave said "there was something that stunk to me about that list.” #BDSfailhttps://t.co/qhc44ruzf0
— Israel in Australia (@IsraelinOZ) November 23, 2017
Embassy of Israel in Germany:
#NickCave: Ich liebe #Israel und die Menschen in Israel. Ich will Stellung beziehen gegen jeden, der versucht, Musiker zum Schweigen zu bringen. Man könnte sagen, dass irgendwie BDS mich dazu gebracht hat, in Israel zu spielen. ➡️Mehr im #Newsletter https://t.co/ZFB6pN09Px pic.twitter.com/PaB0WTjkid
— Botschaft Israel (@IsraelinGermany) November 20, 2017
Embassy of Israel in Ireland:
“At the end of the day there’s maybe two reasons why I’m here, one is that I love Israel and I love Israeli people and two is to make a principled stand against anyone who tries to censor and silence musicians" 🇮🇱😍🇮🇱https://t.co/FqHdQhAofK
— Israel in Ireland (@IsraelinIreland) November 20, 2017
Embassy of Israel in Portugal:
Nick Cave atua hoje e segunda-feira em Israel para "marcar uma posição" https://t.co/Mzg6bIzGVy
— Israel em Portugal🇮🇱🇵🇹 (@IsraelinPT) November 20, 2017
Embassy of Israel in Norway:
Den australske rockestjernen Nick Cave har vært i #Israel for å spille flere konserter. Anklager @rogerwaters og BDS-bevegelsen for å trakassere og "mobbe" artister som ønsker å opptre i den jødiske staten. #BDSFail https://t.co/yEqpau2aSU
— Israel i Norge (@IsraelinNorway) November 22, 2017
Deputy Ambassador of Israel in Spain:
Siempre me ha gustado su música. Ahora me gusta como persona #BDSFAIL
Nick Cave plays Israel to 'take stand' against boycotters – ABC News – https://t.co/fBNnhmJQzx via @ABC— ינעם כהן Yinam Cohen (@YinamCohen) November 19, 2017
Diplomat responsible for Civil Society Affairs, Embassy of Israel, London:
This is the best response to haters. Enjoy your time in Israel @nickcave https://t.co/jNQz8N4GVF
— Michael Freeman (@M_S_Freeman) November 19, 2017
2. Israel lobby
Stand With Us
Shutting down the haters @NickCave on #BDS #israel pic.twitter.com/U1Teaz8SKb
— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) November 21, 2017
Nick Cave purposefully plans show in #Israel to counter BDS! What a BDS Fail. https://t.co/RPY40y3unL
— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) November 20, 2017
Unite With Israel:
And I have a new favorite rock star. https://t.co/ShhjdUivEP
— United With Israel 🎗️ (@UniteWithIsrael) November 19, 2017
We Believe in Israel:
Please sign our letter thanking Nick Cave for standing up to the boycotters and performing in Israel: https://t.co/pFSfUZRct4
— We Believe Alliance (@WeBelieveA) November 22, 2017
The Israel Project:
Nick Cave: performing in Israel is a “principled stand” against boycotters https://t.co/UvY0k5KTdH pic.twitter.com/mjQ6UoKWYU
— Holly Huffnagle (@HHuffnagleAJC) November 20, 2017
Creative Community for Peace:
"I love Israel and Israelis, and it's important for me to say something of substance about this.” – @NickCave 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/hq7yojsYTI
— Creative Community for Peace (@CCFPeace) November 20, 2017
Nick Cave says that BDS Is the reason for his trip to Israel ahead of his first performance there in 20 years. 👏👏👏https://t.co/FChX1BwgIL
— Creative Community for Peace (@CCFPeace) November 19, 2017
Maccabee Task Force:
Nick Cave did NOT bow down to the #BDS bullies! Click to sign this letter going to @nickcave to let him know you appreciate his standing up for #Israel! https://t.co/jNQ9RUt4te
— Maccabee Task Force (@MacTaskForce) November 22, 2017
Sussex Friends of Israel:
To think, this might not have been possible without the help of the @BDSmovement!#NickCaveInTelAviv pic.twitter.com/dMYH9ztPg6
— We Stand With Israel (@SussexFriends) November 19, 2017
