Brian Eno and Thurston Moore show support for Scottish group’s refusal to distance themselves from BDS movement

Scottish experimental rap group Young Fathers have been removed from Germany’s Ruhrtriennale festival due to their support of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement—a campaign aimed against Israel’s occupation of Palestine. According to a statement on the Ruhrtriennale website, festival organizers asked Young Fathers to “distance” themselves from the BDS movement, and the band chose not to do so. Ruhrtriennale Artistic Director Stefanie Carp states:

We explicitly do not conclude from this that the band is anti-Semitic, and, in this context, I consider it important to emphasise that criticism of the policy of the current Israeli government is not per se equivalent to anti-Semitism. However, the Ruhrtriennale distances itself in all forms from the BDS movement and wishes to have absolutely no connection with the campaign. We have therefore decided to cancel the concert. We regret this immensely, because the Young Fathers would have set an important tone in the programme of the Ruhrtriennale.

Young Fathers responded to the cancellation in a statement to Artists for Palestine UK. “We feel it is a wrong and deeply unfair decision by the festival to take this stance and to also ask us to distance ourselves from our human rights principles in order for the appearance to go ahead,” the wrote. The statement continued:

Anyone who knows the band and our history will know we oppose all forms of hatred and racial discrimination. Always have. And we, like BDS, ‘do not tolerate any act or discourse which adopts or promotes, among others, anti-Black racism, anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, sexism, xenophobia, or homophobia.’ We support one of the only peaceful protests a person can take, in the hope to achieve a just and comprehensive peace that allows Palestinian refugees the right to return to a safe homeland, and that allows Israelis and Palestinians of all faiths (and none) to live together in peace.

Brian Eno and Thurston Moore, vocal BDS advocates, showed support for Young Fathers. Eno wrote: “To criticise the Israeli government after the recent killings of unarmed Palestinian protestors is not antisemitism. It is pro-civilisation—speaking out in favour of civilised behaviour and against state brutality. It is standing up and saying: ‘The rule of law applies everywhere.’” Find Thurston Moore’s statement below.

Ruhrtriennale is not the only German music festival embroiled in controversy over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Berlin’s Pop-Kultur festival receives funding from the Israeli embassy in Germany; its 2018 lineup will also feature three Israeli artists. Because of this, several artists have canceled their appearances at Pop-Kultur 2018. Among those who have canceled are: John Maus, Shopping, Richard Dawson & Band, Gwenno, and Nadine Shah. In 2017, Young Fathers withdrew from playing the same festival.