RAMALLAH, September 3, 2018 (WAFA) – American electronic musician Shlohmo took it to social media to announce that he will not be going to Israel to participate in the Meteor Festival, citing Israel’s human rights atrocities as a reason.
“Sorry for short notice but I will NOT be playing in Israel next week,” said Shlohmo on Twitter. “Sorry to the fans I’m letting down and to the festival staff but supporting the oppressed thru my absence is more important to me especially after the government‘s recent human rights atrocities,” he wrote.
“I had said no to playing there for years and the only reason I could find to say yes was if I were to donate my fee to Gaza relief. But after much dialogue I found it to be a more important statement to say no all together than to donate. I hope you can understand this decision.
“I know that just as in America there is a huge population of Israelis who protest the state policies + support Palestinians. Those are the ppl I hoped to play for, but the more I dwell on the issue the more I can‘t justify going. I urge others to research the issue. Luv yall <3,” said the 28-year-old musician, whose real name is Henry Laufer.
Earlier this week, American pop singer Lana Del Rey decided to cancel her appearance at the same festival planned for next week after activists and boycott organizations reached out to her to nix the performance.
Del Rey, who had previously said she would perform in Israel in spite of the boycott campaign, had a change of heart and tweeted on Friday that she has decided to postpone her appearance until a time she can perform for both Palestinians and Israelis.
“It’s important to me to perform in both Palestine and Israel and treat all my fans equally,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, it hasn’t been possible to line up both visits with such a short notice and therefore I’m postponing my appearance at the Meteor Festival until a time when I can schedule visit to both my Israeli and Palestinian fans, as well as hopefully other countries in the region.”
PACBI, member of the larger Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, also called on other performers to pull out from the festival which will be held in northern Israel.
“We urge all participating artists in the festival to respect our nonviolent picket line,” said PACBI.
It called on singer Kamasi Washington to also cancel after more than 15 artists have already canceled their appearance in the festival.
“@KamasiW, Palestinians appeal to you to withdraw from Israel’s Meteor festival,” said PACBI.
“We resist Israel’s dehumanization of Palestinians, just as the Movement for Black Lives insists on a life of justice, equality and dignity. We sincerely hope you will not undermine our struggle.”
It was joined by world famous singer Roger Waters in calling on Kamasi and other artists who until now have not cancelled their performance at the Meteor Festival to do so.
PACBI said artists DJ Volvox, DJ Python, Shanti Celeste, DJ Seinfeld, Black Motion, British DJ and producer Leon @vynehall and Turkish singer-songwriter @seldabgcn as well as bands Khalas and Zenobia and others who preferred to remain anonymous have also cancelled their appearance at the festival, as work continues on the remaining handful of artists to pull out.
K.T./M.K.
