Cancellations at Eilat Festival: BDS or Fear?

Pianists Eddie Palmieri and Jason Moran, as well as New Orleans band Tuba Skinny, have cancelled their participation in the Red Sea International Jazz Festival in Eilat, Israel. Of course, Electronic Intifada and Philip Weiss immediately jumped up and said the boycott campaign is working. They claim that, at least in Tuba Skinny's case, their withdrawal from the Red Sea festival is a response to the BDS movement's requests/demands that the band not perform in Israel.


Really?


Had they announced this decision before August 18, I would have sadly agreed that they caved in to the pressures of BDS. But they decided not to come after the terrorst attacks which killed eight Israelis just a few miles north of Eilat, where Tuba Skinny and the others were scheduled to perform. 


It seems much more likely that the cultural terrorism of BDS had nothing to do with this decision. These musicians were scared away by the physical terrorism of the Popular Resistance Committees. It might also be the case that they're afraid the rockets now blowing up in Ashdod and Be'er-Sheva will reach Eilat, or that the whole country will go to war. I can understand them. I wouldn't volunteer to go into a war zone. That's a far cry from endorsement of the boycott or rebuke of Israel.

Update: Mondoweiss commenter eljay linked to Tuba Skinny band member Erika Lewis's announcement on their Facebook page, which I believe confirms that their decision had nothing to do with BDS. Judge for yourselves:

"In light of the violence in Eilat and the surrounding region, Tuba SKinny will not be performing at The Red Sea Jazz Festival. We are sorry to miss all of you who might be there, and we hope to be able to return at a more peaceful time."

Eurotrash 2009

The Eurovision Song Contest will take place in half an hour. I'll just watch the beginning to see Israel's Noa (Achinoam Nini) and Mira Awad perform, and if I'll still be up, I'll tune in again about two hours into the broadcast (midnight Israel time) to see the point allocation.

I wonder how Noa and Awad will fair. I've seen at least a few seconds of about half the songs in the contest and most of them are horrid. "There Must Be Another Way", Israel's entry, is one of just a handful of relatively good songs, but it may still suffer for political reasons. Voters in other countries might punish Israel for the operation in Gaza and the election of Benjamin Netanyahu. On the other hand, it is a song about co-existence between Jews and Arabs, so some might want to reward Israel for that. And maybe there are some who will vote for the song just because they like it.

By the way, what's with the Czech guy in a superhero suit who looks a little like Mahmoud Ahmedinijad?

Radical Islam, Israel and Paul McCartney

Beatle Paul McCarteny is scheduled to perform in Israel on September 25, and anti-Israel groups are pressuring him to cancel the concert. They claim that by coming here McCartney is expressing support for Israel's policies. That's bullshit, or rubbish, as the Brits say. McCartney is playing for the audience, not for the government or IDF. He can come here and still stay neutral on the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Political pressure is one thing. Now radical Islamic clerics have started threatening his life if he sets foot in the State of Little Satan. Omar Al-Bakri, an Islamic militant who was deported from the UK three years ago for supporting terrorism and plotting against the British government, has said that McCartney shouldn't come to Israel if his life is dear to him.

I hope McCartney doesn't cave. He should not let fear dictate where he will or will not go. I also hope that he'll take the necessary precautions to make sure the terrorists don't make an example to all the world's performers out of him. One murdered Beatle was too much as it is, and with John Lennon and George Harrison dead, if Paul McCartney dies too, Ringo Starr would be awfully lonely, and the amount of talent in the world would drop drastically.

Above right: Cartoon by Amos Biderman, Ha'aretz, Sept. 15, 2008.

Push the (Ban) Button?

Israel's Eurovision entry is causing a stir. "Push the Button", a song about the nuclear bomb, may be banned by the song contest's organizers, the European Broadcasting Union. They say it is a militaristic song that calls for the use of nuclear weapons.

Is it, really? After reading the lyrics, which are in English, Hebrew and French (of which I understand only the first two), I must say it sounds more like a song about the lack of good leadership. There are three kinds of leaders: those who use violence, those who threaten to use it and those who don't prevent it. The song complains about the non-existence of a fourth category, which consists of smart peaceful leaders.

The EBU's main problem is probably with the song's ending where the singer goes bananas and says he's gonna push the button, though only as a last resort if the situation stays the same (besides, at this point, I'm not sure the button is a nuclear device anymore). On the other hand, maybe it also pisses them off that this song disses the very contest in which it is participating, saying "maybe I should sing songs about the desert without flags" and "this is a song without salam (peace in Arabic)".

What do you think of my analysis? Here are the lyrics from eurovil.iba.org.il (with my translation of the Hebrew lyrics), so you can judge for yourselves:


כפתור אדום / Push the Button
מילים, לחן והפקה מוסיקלית: קובי אוז lyrics and music: Kobi Oz

The world is full of terror
If someone makes an error
He’s gonna blow us up to biddy biddy kingdom come
There are some crazy rulers they hide and try to fool us
With demonic, technologic willingness to harm

They’re gonna push the button
push the button push the bu push the bu push the button

Il ya plein de souffrance
Dans les rues il y a trop de violence
Et on a beaucoup de chance d’être vivant même pas blessés
Avancement tactique de régime fanatique
Situation tragique qui me met les larmes aux yeux

And I don’t want to die
I want to see the flowers bloom
Don’t want a go capoot ka boom
And I don’t want to cry
I wanna have a lot of fun
Just sitting in the sun

But nevertheless

He’s gonna push the button
push the button push the bu push the bu push the button

מסרים מתפוצצים עלי
טילים מתעופפים וגם נופלים עלי
שוטרים וגנבים מתרוצצים עלי
והם קופצים עלי מתקרצצים עלי
אללי אללי תענה לי אלוהי הי
הסיוט הזה ארוך מדי
כשאני בקושי חי וכולם מכוונים אלי זה מוקדם לשיר אולי
שנתתי לך חיי
ווי ווי - המשטרה
וויאוו וויאוו - צוות הצלה
הנה זה בקדם שיר ללא סלאם
אדום זה לא רק צבע זה יותר כמו דם
שוב עוצר בלב את הנשימה
שלא תפרח עכשיו הנשמה
הנה מלחמה הנה הנשמה
בום בום זה מה שקורה עכשיו
בין רקטה למצ'טה בין צופה לכתב
בין מחטף לנחטף בין גשום לשרב
הסלמה במדרגות עולה ותופסת קו
כלום כלום זה מה שכולם עושים
קיצונים מקצינים וקצינים מרצינים
התמימים מתמתנים ממתינים לנתונים
ועונים: שכולם חסרי אונים

עולם כולו דמונים שאנחנו סתם פיונים
ושמפיונים עם ז'יטונים מחליטים מה שיהיה
ניהול בעצלתיים, אוניה מלאה במים
וכולם שותים לחיים וטובעים זה לצד זה

אולי זה חד מדי צריך לשיר שירי דקלים שירי מדבר ללא דגלים
אני עוד חי חי חי ואם ימשיך להיות מפחיד
רק אז אני אגיד

[Translation of the Hebrew:]

Messages are blowing up on me,
Missiles are flying and falling on me,
Cops and robbers running around on me,
And they're jumping on me, bothering me.
My god, my god, answer me god,
This nightmare is too long,
When I am barely alive and everybody is aiming at me it might be too soon to sing,
That I gave you my life.
Wee Wee - the police,
Weeoo Weeoo - rescue team,
Here it is in the Kdam (the pre-Eurovision contest) a song without Salam (peace in Arabic).
Red is not just a color, it's more like blood,
Stopping my breath again,
So my soul won't pop out,
Here is war, here is the soul [or: here is war, here is a resuscitation]
Boom boom this is what is happening now,
Between rocket and machete, between viewer and reporter,
Between underhanded opportunism and kidnapping,
Escalation rises up the stairs and takes a (front) line.
Nothing is what everybody does.
Extremists getting more extreme and officers acting serious,
The naive turn to moderation and wait for information
And answer that everyone is helpless.

A world full of demons, and we are only pawns,
And champions with poker chips decide what will be.
Things are run slowly, a ship full of water,
And everybody is drinking l'chaim, drowning next to each other.

Maybe this is too blunt, maybe we should sing about palm trees,
Sing about a desert without flags.
I'm still alive alive alive, and if it continues to be frightening,
Only then will I say:

[End of translation, the rest is in English originally]

I’m gonna push the button
push the button push the bu push the bu push the button