Excuse me for disturbing you, thought I'd send you a quick message.You are a skilled songwriter, a idiosyncratic original who I truly have admired, your superb music has for a long time been part of the soundtrack of my life.your voice of rich emotional depth a valuable source of inspiration to me, however, I have to tell you that I am currently really saddened to have read that you are more than happy to continue to appease the Israeli regime, to the anguish of myself and your many fans. because at moment this state is now executing a genocidal war against 2 million Palestinians (most of them children) in besieged Gaza as I'm sure you have not failed to notice.
I really thought maybe after seeing the continuing slaughter, carnage,with over 40,000 murdered, that you might change your mind, but no. you still support Israel and disapprove a boycott and in the face of a live-streamed genocide you gave this interview to The Jerusalem Post recently with an astonishing moral bankruptcy .https://www.jpost.com/international/article-817074
It really was so disappointing to read. I have previously considered you as a warm, compassionate, sympathetic individual who back 2014, I remember that you supported 9 activists who had climbed onto the roof of the Elbit UK drone factory to protest the Israeli war on Gaza that was happening at the time, so please could you possibly tell me what has changed since then, because the current situation in Gaza is far far worse.
You have also tweeted against the resistance of the indigenous people of Palestine and condemned them for making their own resistance to apartheid. Which implies to me, that you don't care about the oppressed and you are siding with a force that is currently genociding indigenous people.
I too am disgusted by antisemitism, but your current attitude towards the Israel/Palestine conflict and lack of empathy for the Palestinian people, and your endorsement of the illegal Zionist murderous occupiers is not only dissapointing and hypocritical, but inexcusable.
Apparently it’s ok for you to ‘stand with Ukraine’, but it's too complicated to stand against the genocide taking place in Gaza. So all things considered it suggests to me that you think that the lives of Ukrainians are more valuable than the lives of Palestinians.or have I misunderstood something ? I really hope I have.
Additionally you have stated that playing in Israel is not an endorsement of the Netanyahu government, but remember that in spite of this, your concerts in Israel and public positions on the boycott have been used by Israel which openly uses culture as a form of state propaganda to justify its illegal occupation of Palestine, while continuing to target civilians and carry out the wholesale erasure of the culture and identity of Palestinians throughout their ancestral lands.
Just as South African anti-Apartheid activists called for an international boycott which led to the downfall of the Apartheid regime, Palestinians for years have been asking for a boycott of Israel as part of the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) campaign. Thousands of artists across the world now refuse to perform in Israel.
The cultural boycott of Israel continues to grow, in spite of the efforts by Israeli promoters to willfully ignore it. Thousands of UK-based artists and cultural workers have signed Artists for Palestine’s online pledge to refuse to perform or exhibit in Israel. As with the boycott of South Africa, there is no “apolitical” choice. You are either with the oppressed or with the oppressor. I really hope you reconsider your stance and please add your name to the list and respect the boycott.
You can either heed the cry, respect your brothers’ and sisters’ picket line and stand with them in their struggle for the basic human rights we all take for granted, or you can turn your backs on them.
On your new highly emotional record Wild God you continues to grapple with the all-consuming traumatic nature of grief and mourning which I am aware you know a lot about. It’s impossible to contemplate your new record without considering the tragic loss of your two sons. It’s often said that the death of a child is an experience that nobody should ever have to go through. The pain that you genuinely feel must be immense. Yet you still insist on defending Israel's abject cruelty, violence and ethnic cleansing , that has caused so much collective grief for the Palestinian people. your current thoughts on the current conflict seem to me to be totally lacking in empathy for all those suffering in Gaza right now? .
I reach out to you as a fan and admirer with all my heart and urge you as a man who uses words to embody love, dignity and fairness, to think again and take a principled stand and choose humanity over genocide and apartheid. It takes courage to change a steadfast opinion. If you were somehow able to do this my utmost respect for you will return once more, as it would for so many others who can see what’s happening in Gaza and refuse to accept what is happening. In peace. Free Palestine.
Yours sincerely,
Dave Rendle,aka teifidancer
West Wales