The haters yesterday celebrated a victory, as Big Thief, a band most of us have never heard of, canceled its upcoming shows in Tel Aviv.
Under huge pressure from the BDS-holes, the band last week put out a mealy-mouthed explanation of their decision to play here:
We are excited to announce two shows in Max’s hometown, Tel Aviv, Israel @barby.tlv on July 6th and 7th.
Accompanying this announcement, we would again like to clarify our motivations and intentions for playing in Tel Aviv, Israel, with as much transparency as possible.
Over the last seven years we’ve traveled constantly around 3 of our members’ home country, the United States, meeting each other’s families and childhood friends and sharing in the joys and sorrows of a complicated, beautiful and tumultuous home. We have grown so close. It is important for us to share our homes, families and friends with each other in order to gain a deeper understanding of one another and the people and places that have made us who we are. It is important for us to go where we have family to share space and play for them. It is foundational. It is in that spirit that we made our decision to play in Israel.
We are well aware of the cultural aspect of the BDS movement and the desperate reality of the Palestinian people. In terms of where we fit into the boycott, we don’t claim to know where the moral high ground lies and we want to remain open to other people’s perspectives and to love beyond disagreement. We understand the inherently political nature of playing there as well as the implications. Our intention is not to diminish the values of those who support the boycott or to turn a blind eye to those suffering. We are striving to be in the spirit of learning.
With this in heart, the show’s profits will be donated to NGOs that provide medical and humanitarian aid to Palestinian children, including joint efforts between Palestinians and Israelis working together for a better future.
Translation: We decided to play in Israel because Max (our bassist) lives there. And it is important for us to share our homes, families and friends with each other in order to gain a deeper understanding of one another and the people and places that have made us who we are.
We understand there is a boycott (heck, we have been under a lot of pressure to cancel from you guys), but we we want to remain open to other people’s perspectives and to love beyond disagreement.
But all good. We will virtue signal and promise to donate to NGOs that will likely take the money and divert it to Hamas.
But that all gave way to yesterday’s announcement:
Translation: Screw Max! Screw remaining open to other people’s perspectives and loving beyond disagreement!
(Now can we all agree that if their song lyrics are as verbose as these announcements, this is definitely no huge loss?)
To be honest, I am not sad this happened. Because while the BDS-holes think this is a huge victory, the cancellation of this spineless band hardly anyone has heard of has provided the opportunity to reinforce the vileness of the BDS-holes:
Max’s father Alon, a founding member of the legendary Israeli rock group Kaveret, said Thursday that Big Thief faced a wave of pressure and threats to cancel their shows in Tel Aviv.
“They received thousands of threats… the reaction they received for [announcing] a performance in Israel was awful and terrible,” Alon Oleartchik told the Kan public broadcaster. “They were crushed by it.” He said his son, Max “was also crushed by this, he really wanted it to happen.”
provided the opportunity for the venue to post this epic response:
and provided the opportunity for some Israel-haters to show they have boycotted their own brain cells:
