Yesterday’s two posts on this website concerned anti-Israel celebrities. So it feels right to try and bring a bit of a counterbalance today.
Who, I hear you ask?
You’re close.
A literal Rock Star Zionist! In a world where many of our heroes, especially our rock stars and actors have turned on us, Peter Townshend of The Who is a friend of Israel and the Jewish people. Over 100 Million records sold and at 80 still on the stage touring. He is my favorite rock star now!! I ran into him at the airport on my way to Toronto yesterday, we sat and spent some time chatting about this… I asked him why many of his peers are anti-semitic. It’s something that deeply troubles him. It meant a lot to me to hear his very supportive thoughts. When I’ve felt so let down. As the principal composer and songwriter of “Tommy” as well as essentially every other Who song and as an incredible musician, his contributions to the world are manifold. I mean he wrote “Baba O’Riley” aka Teenage Wasteland!! – It was one of those special impromptu moments in life. And I thoroughly enjoyed our time.
Granted, Pete Townshend has not spoken up post-October 7, but it seems easier as a celebrity these days to bash Israel. And I assume he approved of the above photo and caption being posted to Instagram. Besides, it does track; I uncovered Pete’s pro-Israel and pro-Jewish proclivities all the way back in 2015:
Following a visit to Caesarea, Israel in 1966 with his first wife, Karen Astley, and the subsequent outbreak of the Six-Day War, Townshend began work on “Rael,” a song cycle loosely based on Israel’s struggle to survive despite being massively outnumbered by its enemies. “Rael” — short for “Israel” — got sidetracked, partly due to the demands of the Who’s record company for faster delivery of more hit singles, and “Rael” was consigned to the shelf. The only song that has surfaced from that project is called “Rael” and appears on the late 1967 album, “The Who Sell Out.”
A deeper examination of who Pete Townshend is, which he provides in his aptly titled autobiography, “Who I Am,” reveals a man who, while not Jewish himself, has great empathy for the Jewish people and who sees the world very much through the eyes of a Jewish-influenced character.
The son of musicians with a tempestuous marriage, Townshend in his early years was shuffled around among relatives, friends and neighbors while his parents came and went, carrying on relationships outside of their marriage. In his autobiography, Townshend waxes nostalgic not for the comfort of his family, but for the Jewish world that protected him: “We shared our house with the Cass family, who lived upstairs and, like many of my parents’ closest friends, were Jewish. I remember noisy, joyous Passovers with a lot of Gefilte fish, chopped liver and the aroma of slow-roasting brisket.”
After a stint being raised by his grandmother, a period during which he was abused by her and the parade of boyfriends tramping in and out of her flat, he returned home to his parents. Again, his surroundings gave him the most security and happiness: “I was seven, and happy to be home again, back in the noisy flat with a toilet in the back yard and the delicious aroma of Jewish cooking from upstairs. It was all very reassuring.”
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And where are we today? We’re in the same anti-Semitic apologetic denial — it’s a dishrag of a policy. Trying to blame Israel for defending a country we created. And I’m not even Jewish! Jesus f—king Christ. And let’s start with him! Sweet Jesus. This album absolutely had to have several songs about Jesus the man, Muhammad the man, but not modern Christianity or Islam. They are both potentially anti-Semitic today.
So while much of the celebrity world seems content to jump on the bash-Israel bandwagon, Pete Townshend quietly reminds us that integrity doesn’t have an expiry date. His catalogue is already immortal, but knowing that the hand behind Baba O’Riley also extends friendship to the Jewish people makes the power chords ring a little louder.
