We are pleased to report that our petition has now hit the symbolic figure of 100 signatures, showing that concerned fans are still keen to show their support even after the Israel concert went ahead.
Leonard Cohen's manager Robert Kory announced that the Tel Aviv show last week raised over $2m for local groups working for peace and coexistence, including the Parents Circle, reports Bloomberg. Cohen is quoted saying the show represented a "triumph over the inclination of the heart to despair, revenge and hatred."
Talking of Cohen quotes, band member Dino Soldo tweeted after the show that Leonard spoke "the most moving words on suffering I've heard, EVER." If anybody has a transcription of what Leonard said, we would love to hear them.
Further evidence that the show may have had positive effects comes in the form of this article by the Fox News Middle East producer Yonat Frilling, who says that despite the fact she "thrives on cynicism" the concert made her feel as if peace really was possible... albeit only for the three hour duration of the show.
Meanwhile, Robert Kory claims in an interview with Forward that it was some UK academics who scuppered the Ramallah show, not the Palestinian hosts as was originally reported in reputable sources such as the Guardian. "I am an American, I support free speech," Kory is quoted. "They are British academics and I don’t know, they’re ‘right’… I don’t want to name names but there are those in the academic community who suppress speech because they know what’s right."
Kory may be Leonard's financial saviour and we thank him for that but he sure has a tendency to fall back on generalisations about "free speech" when people disagree with him. The Leonard Cohen Boycott Israel Campaign was started by British, Irish and American fans of Cohen and if none of those nations supported free speech then we wouldn't even have been able to put up this blog.
Finally, one of the founders of the Leonard Cohen Boycott Israel Campaign blogged on the night of the show about why he opposed the concert. The post immediately drew comments from both sides of the argument.
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I am always amused when supporters of the racist government in Israel talk about free speech. The last I heard, these were the same folks who attack every author and academic who tells the truth about Israel as an anti-Semite; the same folks who have opposed tenure for academics who do not follow the party line; the same folks who go after any American member of Congress who does not continue to vote more funds for one of the most vicious and corrupt governments on the face of the earth.
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