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<\/a>Jewish Band Reacts to UK Music Hall Admitting \u2018Mistake\u2019 to Cancel Gig After Pressure From Anti-Israel Activists<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n Shiryn Ghermezian<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The British band Oi Va Voi said on Wednesday it welcomed an apology from the music hall Strange Brew in the United Kingdom in which the venue admitted it \u201cmade a mistake\u201d in canceling the band\u2019s gig following pressure from activist groups.<\/span><\/p>\n The modern folk klezmer band from London, which is comprised of British Jews and non-Jews, said<\/a> it also welcomed how the venue in Bristol \u201caccepted that it treated Oi Va Voi differently due to our Jewish heritage\u201d when it made the abrupt decision to cancel their show on May 21 with Israeli singer Zohara as a guest performer. Oi Va Voi added that it believes the \u201cintimidation\u201d by activist groups who pressured the venue to cancel the concert \u201cwould never be tolerated against any other minority, either in the music industry or elsewhere. Anti-Jewish racism is racism, and racism is injustice, wherever it comes from.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Strange Brew explained this week that it made a \u201clast-minute decision\u201d to cancel the May 21 show due to \u201ccomplaints\u201d from activist groups, including criticism of the cover art on Zohara\u2019s 2024 solo album \u201cWelcoming The Golden Age.\u201d The album cover features the Israeli musician naked and holding onto a wheelbarrow full of watermelons while standing in a field of watermelons. In May, Strange Brew said in the now-deleted Instagram post, cited by BristolLive, that activist groups claimed the artwork contained \u201cpolitically loaded symbolism related to the people of Palestine.\u201d The watermelon has become a symbol of Palestinian solidarity and resistance since it shares the same colors as the Palestinian flag.<\/span><\/p>\n Now, months later, Strange Brew apologized for canceling the May 21 show and said it has \u201cresolved the situation amicably\u201d with Oi Va Voi.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe recognize that Oi Va Voi was likely only subjected to this level of scrutiny, and Zohara\u2019s album artwork interpreted negatively, because they are a Jewish band performing with an Israeli singer,\u201d the venue said<\/a> in an Instagram post on Wednesday. \u201cOi Va Voi are musicians, not activists. They have no political affiliations and, as far as we are aware, have never made any political statements, be it in their music or otherwise. We are an inclusive venue, and it was not in line with our values to exclude Oi Va Voi and Zohara from performing on the basis of conjecture by another group about their views.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The venue added that in light of the incident, it has enforced \u201ccompulsory antisemitism training for all our senior management\u201d and made a donation to the Community Security Trust (CST), a British charity that aims to protect British Jews from terrorism and antisemitism. Strange Brew also urged other music venues to \u201cnot hold Jewish artists, wherever they may be from, to a higher standard by demanding they account for the actions of others or let the current conflict [in the Middle East] effectively exclude Jewish acts from our venues.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cJewish people have greatly enriched the UK\u2019s music and arts scenes, helping shape its sounds and stories,\u201d the venue said. \u201cLosing this vital source of creativity would be a real loss for the country.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Oi Va Voi acknowledged Strange Brew\u2019s donation to the CST and commitment to enforce antisemitism training in the band\u2019s statement on Wednesday. It called complaints from activist groups about the band, its music, and Zohara\u2019s album artwork \u201cuntrue and misguided claims.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe only reason we received a level of scrutiny that would lead to such false accusations is because of our heritage and the nationality of one of our performers,\u201d the group stated. The band then expressed disappointment in \u201cthe lack of solidarity\u201d from fellow musicians and the \u201cdeafening\u201d silence from the \u201cwider music industry\u201d after their gig was canceled<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe readiness of venues, promoters, and festivals to cave in to demands that exclude Jewish artists, and the lack of attention from the music press when this does happen, has contributed to an environment which has allowed anti-Jewish racism in Britain to persist largely unchallenged,\u201d Oi Va Voi wrote. \u201cThis episode has had an immense personal and emotional impact on us. It has also led to financial loss, reputational damage and a barrage of hate, the like of which we had never experienced before.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Immediately after the May 21 concert was abruptly canceled, Oi Va Voi responded to the move<\/a> by saying that criticism about the band from activists and claims about the political intentions of Zohara\u2019s album artwork are both \u201cuntrue\u201d and \u201cmisguided.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnyone who knows Oi Va Voi knows that we sing songs which are socially conscious, humanitarian, and speak to audiences across divides,\u201d the band said at the time. \u201cWe are a non-political band who plays to bring people together, not to polarize them. And we are proud of it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In her own statement<\/a> released in May, Zohara defended her album cover and said, \u201cThis discussion is secondary to the only thing that truly matters: ending the starvation in Gaza, bringing all the hostages home, stopping Israel\u2019s bombardments.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She explained that the image of her \u201cgathering fruit in a field\u201d was not meant to have any political implications, and in fact, she \u201cdidn\u2019t know\u201d originally that watermelons were a symbol of Palestinian solidarity. She added that after learning about the connection, her artwork feels more \u201cmeaningful\u201d to her because of her own Moroccan heritage and how \u201cfor many years,\u201d the Moroccan culture \u201cwas silenced where I grew up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBoycotting artists over imagined narratives doesn\u2019t serve justice,\u201d she said in conclusion. \u201cIt silences the very people working to create better futures.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion’68,<\/em> Jewish Band Reacts to UK Music Hall Admitting \u2018Mistake\u2019 to Cancel Gig After Pressure From Anti-Israel Activists Shiryn Ghermezian Demonstrators hold Israeli and British flags outside the Law Courts, during a march against antisemitism, after an increase in the UK, during a temporary truce between the Palestinian Islamist terrorists Hamas and Israel, in London, Britain, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[33,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126040"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=126040"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126103,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126040\/revisions\/126103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=126040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=126040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=126040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![](\"https:\/\/www.algemeiner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/uk2023-11-26T153853Z_2_LYNXMPEJAP052_RTROPTP_4_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-BRITAIN-PROTEST.jpg\")
Demonstrators hold Israeli and British flags outside the Law Courts, during a march against antisemitism, after an increase in the UK, during a temporary truce between the Palestinian Islamist terrorists Hamas and Israel, in London, Britain, Nov. 26, 2023. Photo: REUTERS\/Susannah Ireland<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
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