New Statesman, a piece by Bill Parry, author of Against the Wall:
now one of Britain’s most successful bands, Massive Attack, is publicly backing the boycott.
“I’ve always felt that it’s the only way forward," Robert Del Naja, the band’s lead singer, tells me when we meet at the Lazarides gallery in Fitzrovia, London…
"We were asked to play Israel and we refused," he says. "The question was asked: ‘If you don’t play there, how can you go there and change things?’ I said: ‘Listen, I can’t play in Israel when the Palestinians have no access to the same fundamental benefits that the Israelis do.’ I think the best approach is to boycott a government that seems hell-bent on very destructive policies. And it’s sad, because we’ve met some great people in Israel, and it’s a difficult decision to have to make."…
“We are not going to achieve a quick liberation," Del Naja concedes, but says the point is to apply "pressure, the continual pressure that’s needed"….
“The boycott is not an action of aggression towards the Israeli people," he says. "It’s towards the government and its policies. Everyone needs to be reminded of this because it’s very easy to be accused of being anti-Semitic, and that’s not what this is about."
Omar Barghouti writes: "Of all the groups that have refused to perform in apartheid Israel or agreed but later cancelled, Massive Attack’s message… is by far the strongest, most principled and most morally coherent."
