Bon Jovi will be playing Israel in a matter of hours. Forty thousand fans expected, in Tel Aviv. But the news is Roger Waters’s stirring letter to the group, posted at Salon, explaining their moral failure in playing Israel.
Rolling Stone is covering the interchange between the musicians. Very sympathetic coverage of Waters, and a great headline:
“You stand shoulder to shoulder/With the settler who burned the baby,” Pink Floyd co-founder writes
“I insisted that Israel must be on our list and it happened!”
Asked about former Pink Floyd singer Roger Waters and his controversial boycott campaign to get other singers to nix concerts in Israel, Bon Jovi says: “Yes, I heard about that but it doesn’t interest me. I told my managers to give one simple answer: That I’m coming to Israel and I’m excited to come.”
Dear Jon Bon Jovi, David Bryan, and Tico Torres,
Often in the past I have written detailed, and sometimes even persuasive, letters to colleagues in the music business, encouraging them not to give succor to the Israeli government’s apartheid policies by performing in Israel. Having read Jon’s comments last week in Yedioth Ahronoth, I won’t waste my time drawing parallels with Apartheid South Africa and the moral stand that so many artists took then and that thousands are taking now in the face of decades of Israeli oppression of Palestinians.So the die is cast, you are determined to proceed with your gig in Tel Aviv on October 3. You are making your stand.
You stand shoulder to shoulder
With the settler who burned the baby
With the bulldozer driver who crushed Rachel Corrie
With the soldier who shot the soccer player’s feet to bits
With the sailor who shelled the boys on the beach
With the sniper who killed the kid in the green shirt
And the one who emptied his clip into the 13-year-old girl
And the Minister of Justice who called for genocide
You had a chance to stand
On the side of justice
With the pilot who refused to bomb refugee camps
With the teenager who chose eight prison terms over army service
With the prisoner who fasted for 266 days until freedom
With the doctor banned from entry for saving lives
With the farmer who was cut down marching to the wall
With the legless child growing up in the rubble
And the 550 others who won’t grow up at all
Because of the missiles and tank shells and bullets we sent
The dead can’t remind you of the crimes you’ve ignored. But, lest we forget, “To stand by silent and indifferent is the greatest crime of all.”
Roger Waters
Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Phil. Masterful letter, Roger.
Yes, a wonderful letter. It would be improved (our “side” would find useful) the same or a longer list of horrors each with a URL to the story.
NOTE: In SALON, there WERE URLs but they disappeared here, above.
A cumulative list, with dates, brief comments, and URLs:
8/2015 Israeli PM says “no peace on my watch” URL(NYT): xxx
etc.
(often): Israelis complain that Palestinians teach their kids to hate; URL-List
(often): Israelis give statements showing they hate Palestinians URL-list
Kate does this every week, but I’m after a resource that anyone could read at a glance and look to the URLs for details.
RE: “So the die is cast, you are determined to proceed with your gig in Tel Aviv on October 3. You are making your stand. You stand shoulder to shoulder
With the settler who burned the baby
With the bulldozer driver who crushed Rachel Corrie
With the soldier who shot the soccer player’s feet to bits
With the sailor who shelled the boys on the beach . . . ~ Waters’ letter to Bon Jovi
AN EARLY AUTUMN EVENING’S MUSICAL INTERLUDE, proudly brought to you by the purveyors of new Über-Xtreme Ziocaine™ Ultra CR (Controlled Release) Transdermal Patch: Let The Good Times Roll!℠
Quoting Times of Israel, “Jon Bon Jovi dedicates song ‘We Don’t Run’ to Israel”.
Quoting Moon Zappa, “Barf out. Gag me with a spoon.”
Great, moving letter by Waters. Bon Jovi’s not interested. He’s just excited to go play in Israel. I wonder who his agent is….