Amnesty International has announced it was pulling out of its involvement with Leonard Cohen's concert in Tel Aviv. The announcement comes in the wake of many vociferous protests from around the world, including from its own members. This is a sensible move, but also a self-preserving one since it was becoming likely that it would lose support and members if it persisted with its administration of the concert funds and its partnership with the notorious Discount Bank. Link to Amnesty's statement at the bottom of this article.
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/08/18/18616483.php
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The direct link to Amnesty's statement (English, web page version) is http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE15/025/2009/fr/d8c1fa4a-6e62-4ef4-bda1-327d9dba5f23/mde150252009en.html
ReplyDeleteThis may come as a shock to some of you anti-semites, but (shh, don't tell anyone)... Leonard Cohen is actually a Jew. Yes, all these years, you "longtime fans" have been listening to a Jew.
ReplyDeleteNow, I know you're going to say your campaign has nothing to do with racism or anti-semitism. But an intellectually honest liberal would call for a boycott of Afghanistan, for passing a law that men can rape their wives; would boycott Saudi Arabia, for its literal apartheid state in which women cannot drive a car or be seen in public without a male relative; would boycott Gaza until Hamas drops its charter which calls for the total annihilation of Israel... and on, and on.
You are not intellectually honest. Your pet cause reeks of one-sidedness and, other than the 87 people who've signed your petition, everyone knows what you are; you're bigots and racists masquerading as freedom-loving liberals, trying to impose the same old nazi boycott from 1933.
Never again, you bastards!
Intellectually redundant comments like this are borne of the fact that Israel gets away with bombing Palestinian civilians because of people's fear of criticising Israel lest they themselves be accused of anti-Semitism. The fact is Israel is not immune from criticism and the majority of intellectually honest people who support this cause and those like it are unafraid to voice that criticism. I sincerely doubt that anyone as clever as you claim to be could possibly be blind to the suffering caused by Israel's incursion into the West Bank. Try reading this article and then justifying your comments: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/07/gaza-israel-palestine
ReplyDeleteAnd yes I do detest the Afghan law you refer to - see http://twitter.com/thoughtcat/status/3347021538 - but this is a single-issue campaign.
There are many good-hearted people in this country who have no connections with the war in Gaza, and are very active socially and in peace activities. Don't they deserve to enjoy the songs of Leonard Cohen? They suffer and question themselves much more than you towards these issues. Do they have to buy tickets and go abroad because of your boycott campaign? This makes no sense to me. Plus, why are you targeting L.C. himself a Jew and very devoted to Israel? Should you also recall Madonna, Depeche Mode, and all the international artists who have been visited Israel lately? Take a trip over here: not all is so evil as you might want to believe!
ReplyDeleteShalom
Well this particular petition is about appealing to Leonard Cohen to cancel this concert, not one applying to Madonna, Depeche Mode, Suzanne Vega or anyone else. That is the reason, believe it or not, why we are targetting him!
ReplyDeleteMadonna et al. are to be despised frankly, they are completely self-interested, LC I believe is not. He is highly respected, deservedly so, as an artist, a man and a Jew therefore the moral influence he could exercise would be enormous.
Peace,
Fiona