Roger Waters, Brian Eno hit back at Nick Cave's 'bullying' claims over Israel tour

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This was published 6 years ago

Roger Waters, Brian Eno hit back at Nick Cave's 'bullying' claims over Israel tour

By Rob Moran
Updated

Rogers Waters and Brian Eno have hit back at Australian musician Nick Cave after he accused the rock icons of trying to "bully" and "censor" him, and other musicians, over his current Israel tour.

Waters and Eno – prominent supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which lobbies artists to sever ties with Israel in protest of its occupation of Palestine – have called on Cave to join the boycott.

"Nick thinks this is about censorship of his music? What? Nick, with all due respect, your music is irrelevant to this issue, so is mine, so is Brian Eno's, so is Beethoven's," said Pink Floyd bassist Waters in a statement.

"This isn't about music, it's about human rights".

Nick Cave has drawn criticism from activists for his current tour of Israel.

Nick Cave has drawn criticism from activists for his current tour of Israel.Credit: Eduardo Verdugo

At a press conference in Jerusalem on Sunday, Cave said he decided to perform in Israel as a "principled stand" against BDS activists.

"On a very intuitive level I did not want to sign that [boycott], there was something that stunk to me about that list," Cave said on Sunday.

"It suddenly became very important to make a stand against those people that are trying to shut down musicians, to bully musicians, to censor musicians and to silence musicians.

"At the end of the day, there are two reasons why I am here. One is that I love Israel and I love Israeli people, and two is to make a principled stand against anyone who wants to censor and silence musicians.

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Pink Floyd's Roger Waters.

Pink Floyd's Roger Waters.Credit: Wolter Peeters

"So really, you could say in a way that the BDS made me play Israel," he added.

In Tuesday's statement, Waters responded to Cave's comments with sharp criticism.

"I read Nick Cave's press conference statements with a mixture of sorrow, rage and disbelief," Waters said, mocking Cave's accusations of censorship.

"What if it was your demolished home? Your invaded country? Your villages razed to the ground to build stadiums for the invaders to promote pop concerts on?

"We hurl our glasses into the fire of your arrogant unconcern, and smash our bracelets on the rock of your implacable indifference," he added.

Eno, the former Roxy Music synth player and ambient music producer, noted Cave's "generous" support for Palestinian humanitarian causes, but said the artist had fallen into Israel's "propaganda campaign".

"It's nothing to do with 'silencing' artists – a charge I find rather grating when used in a context where a few million people are permanently and grotesquely silenced," he said.

"Israel spends hundreds of millions of dollars on [propaganda], and its side of the argument gets broadcast loud and clear... Who do the Palestinians have to present their side? If you ask them, they'll say 'BDS'," Eno added.

The BDS movement has drawn support from the likes of U2, Snoop Dogg, Bjork, Lauryn Hill and Elvis Costello, who all cancelled gigs in Israel.

Yet a long list of artists, including Metallica​, Madonna, Elton John, Rihanna, Ozzy Osbourne and others, have continued to perform in Israel.

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In July, Radiohead performed their longest concert in more than 10 years in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, following a bitter public back-and-forth with Waters.

– with AAP

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