Roger
Waters to Dionne Warwick: “You are showing yourself to be profoundly ignorant
of what has happened in Palestine since 1947″
EXCLUSIVE: Dionne
Warwick called me out by name in asserting she'd play Tel Aviv. Here's what she
misunderstands
Singer
and U.N. global ambassador Dionne Warwick recently released an interesting if
puzzling statement asserting that she would, and I quote, “never fall victim to
the hard pressures of Roger Waters, from Pink Floyd, or other political people
who have their views on politics in Israel.”
“Waters’ political views are of no concern,” I assume she means to
her, the statement read. “Art,” she added, “has no boundaries.”
Until today, I have not publicly commented on Ms. Warwick’s Tel
Aviv concert or reached out to her privately. But given her implicit
invitation, I will comment now.
First, in my view, Dionne Warwick is a truly great singer.
Secondly, I doubt not that she is deeply committed to her family and her fans.
But, ultimately, this whole conversation is not about her, her gig
in Tel Aviv, or even her conception of boundaries and art, though I will touch
on that conception later. This is about human rights and, more
specifically, this is about the dystopia that can develop, as it has in Israel,
when society lacks basic belief in equal human value, when it strays from the
ability to feel empathy for our brothers and sisters of different faiths, nationalities,
creeds or colors.
It strikes me as deeply disingenuous of Ms. Warwick to try to cast
herself as a potential victim here. The victims are the occupied people of
Palestine with no right to vote and the unequal Palestinian citizens of Israel,
including Bedouin Israeli citizens of the village of al-Araqib, which has now
been bulldozed 83 times by order of the Israeli government.
I believe you mean well,
Ms. Warwick, but you are showing yourself to be profoundly ignorant of what has
happened in Palestine since 1947, and I am sorry but you are wrong, art does know boundaries. In fact, it is an absolute
responsibility of artists to stand up for human rights – social, political and
religious – on behalf of all our brothers and sisters who are being oppressed,
whoever and wherever they may be on the surface of this small planet.
Forgive me, Ms. Warwick, but I have done a little research, and
know that you crossed the picket line to play Sun City at the height of the
anti-apartheid movement. In those days, Little Steven, Bruce Springsteen
and 50 or so other musicians protested against the vicious, racist oppression
of the indigenous peoples of South Africa. Those artists allowed their art to
cross boundaries, but for the purpose of political action. They released
a record that struck a chord across the world. That record, “I Ain’t Gonna play
Sun City,” showed the tremendous support of musicians all over the world for
the anti-apartheid effort.
Those artists helped win that battle, and we, in the nonviolent Boycott,
Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, will win this one against the
similarly racist and colonialist policies of the Israeli government of
occupation. We will continue to press forward in favor of equal rights
for all the peoples of the Holy Land. Just as musicians weren’t going to
play Sun City, increasingly we’re not going to play Tel Aviv. There is no
place today in this world for another racist, apartheid regime.
As I’m sure you know, Lauryn Hill canceled her gig in Tel Aviv
last week. She did not explicitly cite Israeli oppression of Palestinians as
her reason for canceling, but the subtext of her actions is clear and we thank
her for her principled stand.
Dionne, I am of your generation. I remember the road to
Montgomery, I remember Selma, I remember the struggles against the Jim Crow
laws here. Sadly, we are still fighting those battles, whether here in the USA
in Ferguson or Baltimore, or in Gaza or the Negev, wherever the oppressed need
us to raise our voices unafraid. We need to stand shoulder to shoulder
with them, our brothers and sisters, until true equality and justice are won.
Remember, “Operation Protective Edge,” the Israeli bombing of Gaza
last summer, resulted in the deaths of over 2,000 Palestinians, most of them
civilians, including more than 500 Palestinian children. It is hard for us over
here to imagine what it is like to be exiled, disenfranchised, imprisoned,
rendered homeless and then slaughtered, with no place to flee. Hopefully, in
the end, love will triumph. But love will not triumph unless we stand up to
such injustice and fight it tooth and nail, together.
Dionne, your words indicate that part of you is set on going
through with your concert. I am appealing to another part of you, to implore
that other part to join us. We will welcome you. It is more than likely
that you harbor reservations in your heart about what Israel is doing to the
Palestinians, that when you see a mother’s child in ruins you wonder what if
that child were mine? It is not too late to hear those reservations, to listen
to that other voice, to value freedom and equality for all over the value you
place on your concert in Tel Aviv.
When global pressure finally forces Israel to end its occupation,
when the apartheid wall comes down, when justice is served to Palestinian
refugees and all people there are free and equal, I will gladly join you in
concert in the Holy Land, cross all the boundaries and share our music with all
the people.
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