RAMALLAH, September 6, 2018 (WAFA) – American indie pop group “Of Montreal” announced on Wednesday that it has cancelled its performance at the Israeli Meteor Festival, citing Israel’s “murderous and brutal policies against Palestinians” as a motif for the cancellation.
The band posted a statement on its official social media pages, announcing the news to their fans and follower, saying the time has come “for activism and protests against Israeli apartheid.”
“After deep consideration, we have decided to cancel our appearance at the Meteor festival,” the band said. “After exhausting all of the different possible ways of justifying playing an Israeli party festival, while the political and military leaders of the country continue their murderous and brutal policies against the Palestinian people, we came to the realization that there is no actual appropriate move other than to cancel the show.”
“Now is not the time for escapism and celebrations. Now is the time for activism and protests against Israeli apartheid, Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the human rights atrocities being carried out every day in Gaza by Israeli forces. We have so much love for the peace loving Israeli people and an equal amount of love for the peace loving Palestinians. This is in no way an indictment of the Israeli people in general. We simply cannot turn a blind eye to this crisis. To ignore the call to stand up in support of an oppressed group of humans is one of the worst things one can do,” the band concluded.
The band becomes the latest to join a list of musicians and artists who cancelled their performances in the festival, including Lana Del Rey, Shlohmo, Leon Vynehall, Selda, Volvox, DJ Python, and Mall Grab after calls were made by activists and boycott organizations such as the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
BDS has frequently made calls for many artists to cancel events in Israel, to which some of the world’s top artists, including Roger Walters and Stevie Wonder, have accepted the call.
K.T./M.K.
