Eric Burdon, Please Don’t Cross the Picket Line – Boycott Israel

Eric Burdon at the 2008 Daffodil FestivalDear Eric Burdon,

It is with consternation we are aware you are booked to play Israel on August 1, 2013. We would like to inform you about the important means of resistance which has been chosen by Palestinian people to assist in their attainment of justice, rights and freedom after 65 years of oppression in the Palestinian homelands by Israel.

We are asking that you join the existing long list of performers of conscience and others [1] who respect the Palestinian-led global call to boycott until Israel

“meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law by:

1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall
2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.”[2]

We understand you have spent time in the Negev, where at present under the vicious Prawer Plan, Israel is demolishing the homes of, and expelling more than 40,000 Indigenous Palestinian Bedouin people against their will in order to “judaize” the Bedouins’ homeland.[3] Surely you would support the boycott to protest this terrible act of ethnic cleansing.

You have been requested by Palestinians to stand against Israel’s apartheid regime, which has been described as worse than that perpetrated by South Africa by several noted South African anti-apartheidists.

Baleka Mbete, National Chairperson of the ANC, former Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa (2008-9) and former Speaker of the National Assembly at the 2012 African National Congress (ANC) International Solidarity Conference said that she has been to Palestine herself and that the Israeli regime is not only comparable but “far worse than Apartheid South Africa.” [4]

‘As a South African newspaper editor, Mondli Makhanya, put it in after a 2008 trip to the Middle East: “It seems to me that the Israelis would like the Palestinians to disappear. There was never anything like that in our case. The whites did not want the blacks to disappear.”‘[5]

Especially since your music forms part of rock and roll’s foundations, Eric, please don’t permit yourself and your important legacy to be appropriated in the service of Israel’s cynical propaganda to disguise the oppression and obliteration of Palestinian people. Join Mira Nair, internationally-acclaimed director of Salaam Bombay!, Monsoon Wedding and Mississippi Masala, who stated just last week:

‘I was just invited to Israel as a guest of honor at the Haifa International Film Festival with “The Reluctant Fundamentalist.” I will not be going to Israel at this time. I will go to Israel when the walls come down. I will go to Israel when occupation is gone. I will go to Israel when the state does not privilege one religion over another. I will go to Israel when Apartheid is over. I will go to Israel, soon. I stand with the [Palestinian Campaign] for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and the larger Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement.’ [6]

In order to set a principled example alongside many artists and academics who have cancelled their appearances after being made aware of the boycott [7], we hope you will be persuaded to support the boycott of apartheid Israel wholeheartedly, and at the least, cancel your performance, refuse to cross the picket line and compromise the struggle for freedom of Palestinian people.

DPAI
We are a group, of over 1000 members, representing many countries around the globe, who believe that it is essential for musicians & other artists to heed the call of the PACBI, and join in the boycott of Israel. This is essential in order to work towards justice for the Palestinian people under occupation, and also in refugee camps and in the diaspora throughout the world.

[1] http://www.bdsmovement.net/timeline
[2] http://www.bdsmovement.net/call
[3] http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/video-bedouins-resist-israeli-plan-expel-40000-and-judaize-their-land
[4] http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-far-worse-apartheid-south-africa-says-anc-chair-pretoria-conference-backs
[5] http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/israels-similarity-to-south-africas-apartheid-is-more-than-skin-deep#full
[6] http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/monsoon-wedding-director-mira-nair-boycotts-israel-film-festival
[7] http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=2093

SOURCE

Why Has Burdon Uncancelled His Date with Apartheid?

Despite both Kadaitcha and Electronic Intifada approaching Eric Burdon’s manager for substantiation, no evidence has emerged of any alleged ‘threats’ outlined by Burdon’s support band T-Slam in the Israeli media. Now, Burdon’s August 1 gig in apartheid Israel is back on his tour calendar. This further casts into doubt the reliability of these hearsay threats.

On Burdon’s Facebook page, however, we find a sewer of abuse toward Burdon and BDS advocates, following his initial supposed cancellation. Some examples of the bigoted, bullying language used toward Burdon by zionist propaganderists include:

Michael Silverstein Guess you do not believe in your own music. You have proven that you are a Racist. You grew up in the era of peace yet you allow Racist to tell you how to run your life. Be a real man not a Racist that you have proven that you have turned into. I will be boycotting all your music and if you show up in my town we will be the one’s with signs to boycott your show

Scott Lawrence Eric-Im ashamed you canceled your Israel gig due to Muslim Fanatics threatening you I have always loved your music.

Marco de la Rosa Grow a BACKBONE already… Cringing before terrorist threats ? That craven attitude only FUELS the fanatics’ murderous impulses… Is this the same legendary artist whose music we loved ? ? Do you want Osama bin Laden and his murderous jihadi SCUM to be able to intimidate decent people with their empty threats ? Did the Navy Seals run away and hide ? or did they ELIMINATE that monster ? FACE YOUR FEAR and confront it head on… You would be SAFER in the Holy Land than almost anywhere on the planet – thanks to young women and men in IDF uniforms who have the COURAGE you lack… Shame on you… You have disappointed an entire generation…

Comm Net eric burdon is just a chicken …

Ruby Harris eric is a coward. he bowed to bds nazis. shame on you. McCartney is a hero. he didn’t! [NB McCartney’s cancellation had nothing to do with BDS]

Bobby Levit Eric Burdon is a coward…..cancels his show in Israel ….

Steve Toltz Burdon is a COWARD. Succumbing to the PHONEY BDS movement and the lies and anti-Semitic rants leveled at Israel. Where is that spirit of Rock and Roll that I grew up to with you in the 60’s? Shame on you…

Deborah Jankelle Salant You have lost another fan due to your weakness and caving to the boycott.

Cindy Zemel you are a coward! no one in the right mind would bow to these idiots.

Brian Alan I’ve destroyed and erased all your music. Shame you capitulated to terrorism. you’re a coward.

Rick Clayton Go to israel you puss.

Segev Afriat unlike my friend Barry Williams, I’m not gonna beg you to come to iisrael. if you wanna give in to terror, it only means you’re not good enough to come to israel. good luck with your music, you chicken

Nephtaly Hans Velez-Crespo Had you cancelled on matter of conviction, you would at least have something to show for it. You nonetheless cancelled because you are a straight out pussy who succumbed to threats by load mouth activist armed with a hateful agenda.

That’s how your fans in this region of the word will see you. No backbone. What a shame.

You still have the opportunity to fix this.

Scott Izes Ruth I commend you on your posts, especially considering you are talking to an ignoranus who puts the same degree of thought into her posts as she does in deciding to support 7th century barbarism over modern civilization.

Last week, Defence for Children International revealed its latest report on Israel’s treatment of Palestinian children in military detention. Israel currently imprisons 193 Palestinian children, 41 of whom are between the ages of 12-15. In 19% of cases, solitary confinement was used for interrogation purposes on these Palestinian children. More than half of the 193 Palestinian child detainees are held inside Israel in violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Further

‘Israel is the only nation that automatically and systematically prosecutes children in military courts that lack basic and fundamental fair trial guarantees. With over 8,000 Palestinian children arrested, detained and prosecuted in the Israeli military court system since 2000, it is an unmistakably damaging and oppressive venture. How many young kids need to be detained, arrested and ill-treated before Israeli leaders realize that the routine ill-treatment of Palestinian kids is not okay?’

Will these imprisoned children who when free dwell in another open air prison in the West Bank behind Israel’s hideous illegal apartheid wall, soon hear distant strains of western rock music denied to them on the basis of their Indigenous ethnicity, Israel’s appetite for ethnosupremacist hegemony, oppression and Palestinian land?

Because of news of Burdon’s alleged cancellation proliferated by the Israeli media, a demonstration in support of boycott of apartheid Israel organised by the Scottish PSC at his concert in Edinburgh on July 24 was called off. Thus Burdon was shielded from receiving information directly about Israel’s criminal oppression of Palestinians including those 193 Palestinian children which it incarcerates and torments, Israel’s fiendish Prawer Plan for ethnically cleansing more than 40,000 Indigenous Bedouins from their homelands in the Negev, systematic apartheid against Palestinians in Israel and many other reasons for BDS.

Eric Burdon still has time to cancel his gig, to respect the boycott and disperse the unsubstantiated allegations of ‘threats’ against him. Some may feel the burden falls upon Burdon to explain why neither he nor his manager have made the effort to clear up uncertainty. Until there is clarity, questions about unsubstantiated Israeli media reports of threats, cancellation and uncancellation will remain as a cloud above Burdon’s long, distinguished rock and roll career.

UPDATE 31/7/13

Burdon arrives in Israel, with UPI reportng Burdon disclaims his gig was ever cancelled.

“Eric Burdon, the former lead singer of the British rock band The Animals arrived in Israel Tuesday, despite initially canceling the gig due to threats.

At a press conference in Tel Aviv, the 71-year-old rock legend denied he had ever thought to cancel his Israel trip despite reports a week ago claiming otherwise, Israel Radio said.

“The fact that I am here proves the point,” he told reporters. Burdon took advantage of the press conference to praise the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in Washington, saying while he believes and dreams for peace, “we live in a world that also knows war.”

The Israeli rock band Tislam, which will perform with Burdon Thursday, also attended the press conference.

A week ago, Tislam said Burdon’s manager had said the singer was canceling the show in Israel because of threats.

At the time a statement released by Burdon’s manager said: “We are under increasing pressure, including many threatening emails that we are receiving on a daily basis. I wouldn’t want to put Eric in any danger.”

Ynet now claims [Google translation, which is not a reliable translator] [Hebrew original]:

“It was not my decision to cancel the show, it’s my manager, following the threat received a lot of emails just afraid for my life. I’m not afraid to play here and very happy to return to Israel,” he said today (Tuesday) Eric Burdon, band singer “Animals” legendary in Tel – Aviv.

Bardon, appears five (1.8) Zappa Amphi difference Binyamina, canceled his appearance a few weeks ago in the wake of political pressure pro-Palestinian organizations. Now as he returned it, said he was not involved in the decision and came to Israel to make the show.

Please note that this is an exceptional case. Rare that artists canceled their attendance on political grounds and then return them. “Above all, it is important for me to convey a message that the past is not Important,” he added today, “and I came to Israel as long as I wanted. It was important to play here and I’m concentrating all my energies towards performance. We are going to give a great Israeli show.”

Burdon said the evening will be planned jointly with the band “Slam.” Wearing a shirt on which the symbol of peace, met this morning with members of the band Burdon Israel in Tel – Aviv, after he had met in London and Yair Izhar budding more last month.

The Independent says Burdon’s statement quoted in Ynet comes from his management:

In a statement from his management today 71-year-old Mr Burdon said he had already arrived in Israel and that the concert would go ahead as planned.

“It was not my decision to cancel the show, it was my manager’s, who as a result of lots of threating emails she received, was genuinely afraid for my life,” he said.

“I’m not afraid to preform here and very happy to be back in Israel”

He continued: “Above all, it is important for me to convey a message that the past is not important, and the most important thing is and I came to Israel, as I wished to. It was important for me to play here and I’m concentrating all my energies towards the performance. We are going to give a great show to the Israelis.”

Tickets available, with handling fee.
Tickets available in blocks of 20 4pm 31/7/13

UPDATE 31/7/13 4pm EST

Tickets in blocks of 20 are still available for Burdon’s gig at Ampi Shuni.

Zionist and other media spin, stories and bare-faced lies following Burdon’s “uncancellation”

JNS:

‘Legendary 1960s band The Animals’ musician Eric Burdon will perform in Israel after initially canceling the performance due to threatening anti-Israel emails, his manager said.’

Times of Israel:

“After caving to threats and canceling a gig in Israel, aging rocker Eric Burdon will play here after all.

Burdon flew into Israel on Monday night for the Thursday concert. “If it hasn’t go to do with music,” he declared on arrival, “it’s bullsh*t.”

Burdon, the former lead singer of ’60s British band The Animals, was last week reported to have canceled the August 1 concert in Binyamina because, his manager said, he had been receiving daily threatening emails.

However, on Monday the concert was back up on Burdon’s website and was again listed among the concerts at the Zappa Shuni Amphitheater in Binyamina. No reason was given for the cancellation of the cancellation.

Burdon, whose band’s decades-spanning career including hits such as “The House of the Rising Sun,” “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place,” “It’s My Life,” and “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” is once again scheduled to perform alongside Israeli legendary band T-Slam, as per the original plan.

Earlier this month, Burdon met up with members of T-Slam in Vienna and told them he was under pressure from anti-Israel activists to cancel the show. At that time, though, he seemed set on going ahead with the concert, telling the Israeli musicians, “Everyone needs music and there’s no connection to current politics. Everyone has the right to be entertained.”

But his manager later wrote to T-Slam to state that the show was off. “We are under increasing pressure, including many threatening emails that we are receiving on a daily basis. I wouldn’t want to put Eric in any danger,” his manager wrote, in comments released by T-Slam last week.

In a statement at the time, T-Slam said, “To appear with Eric Burdon, one of the founding fathers of rock & roll, was an almost dream come true. We’re sorry that despite his personal assurance to us, that he bowed to pressure and cancelled his concert.”

However, it seems Burdon’s reluctance to go through with the concert was short-lived and the show is back on track.”

JTA:

“Eric Burdon, lead singer of the popular ’60s band The Animals, said he will perform in Israel days after canceling a concert due to threatening emails.

On Monday, after saying last week that he had canceled his Aug. 1 concert in Binyamina, the concert appeared on Burdon’s website. It also was posted on the website of the Zappa Shuni Amphitheater, the concert site.

Burdon’s wife and personal manager, Marianna Burdon, had written to Tislam, the Israeli band with whom Burdon was scheduled to perform, about canceling the performance. “We are under increasing pressure, including many threatening emails that we are receiving on a daily basis,” Marianna Burdon wrote. “I wouldn’t want to put Eric in any danger.”

Performers have been under increasing pressure from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement, or BDS, not to play Israel.

Burdon, 72, last performed in Israel during the 1980s. He recently released a solo album.”

Forward:

“Eric Burdon, lead singer of the popular ’60s band The Animals, said he will perform in Israel days after canceling a concert due to threatening emails.

On Monday, after saying last week that he had canceled his Aug. 1 concert in Binyamina, the concert appeared on Burdon’s website. It also was posted on the website of the Zappa Shuni Amphitheater, the concert site.

Burdon’s wife and personal manager, Marianna Burdon, had written to Tislam, the Israeli band with whom Burdon was scheduled to perform, about canceling the performance.

“We are under increasing pressure, including many threatening emails that we are receiving on a daily basis,” Marianna Burdon wrote. “I wouldn’t want to put Eric in any danger.”

Performers have been under increasing pressure from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement, or BDS, not to play Israel.”

Arutz Sheva:

‘Eric Burdon Takes Back Cancellation of Israel Shows

Eric Burdon, lead singer of the 60s group the Animals, who created the group WAR, landed in Israel, Monday, less than a week after he announced he was pressured into cancelling his performances here.

Burdon will appear, as scheduled, with the Israeli group Tislam, in two performances Thursday at the Zappa Amphitheater in the Jabotinsky park in Binyamina, south of Haifa.’

Hayom:

‘Animals singer to perform in Israel despite criticism

Eric Burdon, former lead singer of British band The Animals, who last week canceled his performance in Israel citing political pressure, defies criticism, lands in Israel ahead of scheduled performance with Israeli rock band T-Slam.

Eric Burdon, the former lead singer in the British band The Animals, who last week canceled his performance in Israel citing political pressure, has had a change of heart.

Burdon landed in Israel on Monday evening ahead of his planned performance with Israeli rock band T-Slam at the Shuni Amphitheater in Binyamina.

In a statement released last Tuesday, Burdon’s personal assistant said, “We’ve been subjected to mounting pressure, including numerous threatening emails, daily. The last thing I intend to do is put Eric in jeopardy.”‘

Arutz Sheva again:

‘However contrary to a previous report last week, Eric Burdon’s Israeli appearance would go on as scheduled. It was previously stated Burdon would not come to the Jewish State due to threats from anti-Israel agitators.

The British singer led the 1960s group the Animals, famous for such songs as House of the Rising Sun and We Gotta Get Out of This Place. He also created the American band War, famous for ’70s hits Low Rider, Spill the Wine and more.

Burdon landed in Israel on Monday less than a week after he announced he was pressured into cancelling his performances here. He will appear, as scheduled, with the classic Israeli rock group Tislam (aslo spelled T-Slam), in two performances Thursday at the Zappa Amphitheater in the Jabotinsky park in Binyamina, south of Haifa.’

Jewish Press:

‘Another day, another BDS fail. Famous rocker Eric Burdon has rejected pressure to bow out of a performance in Israel and will appear with Israel legendary band T-Slam on August 1.

Despite the very best efforts of the very biggest haters, rock-n-roll legend Eric Burdon – star of the classic ’60?s rock band the Animals, War and solo careerist – will play in Israel. He will be performing on August 1 with the 80?s era Israeli band T-Slam.

The Israeli musician and co-founder of T-Slam, Izhar Ashdot, had personally invited Burdon to join them in a concert in Israel.

It’s been an on, then off, and now back on appearance promise by Burdon who originally announced he would be appearing with T-Slam after Ashdot personally invited him.

When Ashdot and fellow T-Slam band member Yair Nitzani met with Burdon in Vienna recently, the British musician informed them he had received messages from many people, asking him to refuse to play in Israel. But, as the Jerusalem Post reported, Burdon initially told the Israeli musicians, “It’s impossible to prevent music. Everyone needs music and there’s no connection to current politics. Everyone has the right to be entertained.”

Despite those brave words, briefly, Burdon decided to cancel his appearance after his wife and manager, Mariana Burdon, claimed there were not only requests for Eric Burdon not to play in Israel, but threats of physical violence as well.

However, as of Monday, July 29, the gig was back on.

In response to the prodding of the insatiable haters of Israel at the blog known as Mondoweiss (naturally, the creator of the blog is a Jewish anti-Zionist named Philip Weiss), Ashdot explained why, actually, no, he does not support a boycott of Israel, although he is against what he calls the “Occupation.”

The reporter Ira Glunts preened about supporting the boycott and about writing on Ashdot’s Facebook page that although he loved the Israeli singer’s huge anti-”Occupation” hit, “A Matter of Habit,” he was disappointed that the Israeli musician did not use the fact that Burdon had cancelled to “address the evils of the occupation and how it isolates Israel from the world community. In addition, I recommended that he address the occupation at the concert which was scheduled to go forward without Burdon.”

According to Glunts, Ashdot shut him down.

The singer wrote, among other expressions of disagreement with the thoughts express [sic] in my message: I am afraid that you miss the principal point. The song “A Matter of Habit” is the way in which Alona [the song’s lyricist and Izhar’s life partner] and I express ourselves in regard to the occupation and the damage that it causes our children. Burdon not coming to Israel disappoints me very much, but just as I am against the occupation, I am against boycotts. I, myself, have appeared more than once in the occupied territories, in front of settlers, they are part of my people and one day we must welcome them back without regard to their politics. [My translation, IG.]

Eric Burdon became a musician in the early 1960?s with the band which became known as The Animals. They were a hugely popular part of the “British Invasion” of the United States by British rock bands. Like the Beatles, the Animals also appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. By the latter half of the 1960?s the band fell apart due to personnel changes and financial mismanagement. Burdon had a solo career, was part of other popular bands including “War” (“Spill the Wine”) and is still performing at age 71.

Despite the name of Burdon’s second band, he is clearly not someone who embraces the concept of war. It won’t be surprising if Burdon and Ashdot decide to – or feel the need to – speak out against Israeli violence at their concert. Perhaps they’ll even mention Arab terrorism? Nonetheless, a political disagreement is not the same thing as a decision to engage in economic warfare, and Ashdot, and now Burdon, refuse to be a part of that nefarious effort.

So Eric Burdon will bring his voice and his presence to Israel, and this is another “brick in the wall” against Zionophobia.

Rather than, as some Zionophobes suggested, Burdon and Ashdot sing “I Gotta Get out of This Place,” meaning, Israel, perhaps the two will instead sing together a different one of the Animals’ best known anthems: “Don’t Let Me be Misunderstood.”

Mondoweiss:

‘According to a personal message I received yesterday (Sunday) from Izhar Ashdot, Eric Burdon will be performing in Israel despite reports that he had cancelled his scheduled appearance due to alleged threats from Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activists. Mondoweiss covered the reported cancellation, as well as the U.S. Campaign for an Academic and Cultural Boycott statement denying that the BDS movement uses violent threats.

Ashdot is a founding member of the popular Israeli rock group Tislam. He personally invited Burdon to appear with his group on stage on August 1 in an amphitheater in Binyamina, Israel. Ashdot wrote me that Burdon would be arriving in Israel today (Monday) and quoted the British rock legend as telling him that, “… he will stand by his promise of two weeks ago: ‘I believe in everyone’s right to music, without connection his/her politics.’” The Jerusalem Post reported that the legendary British rocker told Ashdot:

It’s impossible to prevent music. Everyone needs music and there’s no connection to current politics. Everyone has the right to be entertained.

I sent the Israeli rocker Annie’s post via Asdot’s Facebook page. I expressed admiration for his courage in answering the criticism of his song’s trenchant protest against the occupation and elucidation of the corrosive role of the military in its perpetuation. But I also expressed my “disappointment” that he did not use the Burdon cancellation to address the evils of the occupation and how it isolates Israel from the world community. In addition, I recommended that he address the occupation at the concert which was scheduled to go forward without Burdon.

Ashdot did not take kindly to my suggestion. The singer wrote, among other expressions of disagreement with the thoughts express in my message:

I am afraid that you miss the principal point. The song “A Matter of Habit” is the way in which Alona [the song’s lyricist and Izhar’s life partner] and I express ourselves in regard to the occupation and the damage that it causes our children. Burdon not coming to Israel disappoints me very much, but just as I am against the occupation, I am against boycotts. I, myself, have appeared more than once in the occupied territories, in front of settlers, they are part of my people and one day we must welcome them back without regard to their politics. [My translation, IG.]

Screenshots from Eric Burdon’s Facebook page wall

Related Links

PCHR Submits Shadow Report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child

Resisting Israel’s vicious Prawer Plan for ethnic cleansing of Bedouins from the Naqab

At the gig: Times of Israel erroneously reports it was his manager announcing threats when it was T-slam:

‘The relentless death threats that led his manager to announce two weeks ago that he’d be canceling this Israel trip? Not a mention. The subsequent cancelation of that cancelation? Not a word. Just a big smile from behind his shades at the start, a “thank you, you’ve been a great audience” at the end, and half a century’s controlled musical mayhem in-between. ‘

NGO Monitor director Gerald Steinberg called to respond to delegitimization “like we’re in a war. We need counterattacks.” Steinberg also spoke out against Israeli organizations that visit Diaspora communities and claim that Israel commits war crimes;

Adam Shay’ss Strategic Hasbara Plan

Adam Shay Profiler and threat strategy

Poems Of Domestic Revolution

Tenant from Hell (from Other People’s Lives)

He cares not for mundane semiotics –
weeks of encrusted dishes mount,
all year I’ve begged the bludger
to wash the house,
sombre as my roiling mood,
disdain for stains and smudges
curses my brain.
Mould seethes from wall to ceiling,
the rot’s set in …
devolution is inspiration
for deconstructive brilliance,
cadging appreciation
of Lacanian castration.
Ragged spiderwebs in corners
mock and spin since he moved in,
from nights of carousing toil
empty cans pattern the yard
with post-structural foil,
laundry unspeakable with foetid heaps,
garden weed-festooned
like his scruffy tangled beard,
I, or is it my ego, struggle not to weep.
He clicks the remote for the footy game,
derisively philosophizes Derrida,
oblivious to temporal flames.
Someone has to clean it up
and I guess it won’t be him.
His mind’s immersed in existential
anguish of being, not doing,
my discomfort his convenient exegesis
to carve another tidy thesis.

Jinjirrie
July 2013

Domestic Inconsistencies (from Other Peoples’ Lives)

I

She made me do it, didn’t get the hint.
Simple things change. It didn’t feel right.
There had been others. I owed her no reason.
Too old, too bright, too cosmic,
her song had ended.
She came to take her furniture.
After all I’d done for her. I needed it.
She stood her ground.
Her quietness incited,
inviting me to strike.
The barbed truth prodded my hands
to encircle her neck,
clasp her thin body and throw it
like a curse across the room.
Who would have thought
she’d be so light. I didn’t mean to.
She bounced off her old table,
fell against her lounge,
head cracking.
I nearly laughed, pushed her from my house.
Hurled her bag after her.
She provoked it, this matter of perspective.
Everyone says there’s always two sides.

II

He dropped the blade on our love,
smiled when he dismissed me.
Kept my furniture. To compensate for
all he’d done for me.
So I visited to ask for my heater to keep me warm
now I was alone.
Like Anne Boleyn on the block,
my head in his hands,
across the room I flew,
ricochetting off the table against my old lounge.
My head rings still.
Once he called me his gentle rose.
Excuses are words, not blows,
not the black petals on my body.
I’ll extract the thorns,
release the angry pus in private.
Everyone says there’s two sides and
asks whether I provoked him.
I stood my ground, wept,
now weep no more.

Jinjirrie
April 2013

Why Did Eric Burdon Cancel His Gig in Apartheid Israel?

The latest major artist to cancel their performance in apartheid Israel is Eric Burdon, after a focused campaign by BDS advocacy organisations, including the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign and DPAI. A facebook page and twitter campaign augmented the calls to Burdon to respect the Palestinian-led boycott.

Since the cancellation, the Scottish PSC, who provided an online facility for forwarding letters protesting Burdon’s breaking of the boycott, published a disclaimer of allegations of threats broadcast by the Israeli media. These threat allegations are second-hand, emanating from a supposed letter from Burdon’s management to supporting band, T-Slam (or Tislam). T-Slam band member Yair Nitzani served in the Israel Defense Forces as a broadcaster on Galei Zahal, and later on the show Ma Yesh (What’s Up) on Israeli Army Radio.

The US Campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI) has also disclaimed allegations of threats to Burdon.

‘Although we and our allies urge artists not to cross the international picket line by performing in Israel, and although we make sustained efforts to educate performers about the reason for boycott, we have not and never will issue any threats against anyone who does not heed the boycott call. Recent claims of threats from ex-Animals singer Eric Burdon in an article published by Ha’aretz are vague and unsubstantiated. We do not know if they are made up by media hostile to the BDS strategy, or by artists and/or their agents, or if they are inflated reports of remarks made by individuals who do not represent the movement. USACBI advances the BDS movement not through threats, but rather by exposing Israel’s wrongs, and promoting non-violent ways to redress them, and achieve the rights of the Palestinian people.’

Israel’s Haaretz reported:

Former lead singer of The Animals Eric Burdon on Tuesday announced he is cancelling his planned concert in Israel, citing threats. According to his personal manager Marianna Burdon, he was pressured not to perform in Israel and ultimately chose to cancel the concert, which was to take place August 1.

“We are under increasing pressure, including many threatening emails that we are receiving on a daily basis. I wouldn’t want to put Eric in any danger” his manager wrote in a letter to Israeli members of Tislam, the band Burdon was scheduled to perform with.

Burdon told two of the band members who he met with in Vienna last week that he was subject to threats not to perform, but insisted that “people cannot be denied music. Everyone needs music and it has nothing to do with current politics. Everyone has the right to entertainment, regardless of their situation or the politics of their country.”

A previous Haaretz Hebrew story does not mention ‘threatening emails’, but rather phrases the supposed written allegations expressed to T-Slam by Burdon’s manager, Marianna Burdon as “strong pressure not to perform in Israel and they chose to cancel the scheduled appearance for fear of his life.” [Google translation]

The Haaretz City Mouse appears to have published news of Burdon’s cancellation first, with a headline “Because of political pressure: Eric Burdon cancelled his appearance in Israel“. This story goes onto say:

“His manager, Mariana Burdon, wrote today that “we are under growing pressure, including a large number of emails that come to us on a daily basis, I would not want to put Eric in danger.” [Google translation]

In the same Mouse story, the support band, T-Slam issued normalising hasbara in response to the cancellation.

“To appear with Eric Burdon, one of the founding fathers of rock and roll, was for us a dream almost come true. It pains us that despite his personal promise to us, he succumbed to foreign pressure and cancelled the appearance. Continue to strive to bring to Israel musicians we appreciate and create a bridge of peace through music. [Google translation]”

A spokesperson for the Facebook group Eric Burdon: Bring Down Apartheid, Boycott Israel commented on T-Slam’s response in Mouse:

“This seems to suggest the article is not attributing any weight to the claims of threats but that it was a political pressure, thus Burdon being confronted with the facts about the Israeli apartheid and ethnic cleansing as well as being informed of the call for boycott.”

Later, reasons for Burdon’s cancellation were distorted further by the UK independent, who quoted Israel Radio:

‘However, in a statement, Mr Burdon’s management, said: “We’ve been receiving mounting pressure, including numerous threatening emails, daily. The last thing I intend do is put Eric in jeopardy.” The nature of the threats is unclear, but according to Israel Radio this morning, Mr Burdon was not willing to risk his life to come to Israel.’

Kadaitcha has attempted to contact Burdon’s manager for clarification, and at time of publication has received no response.

Following Burdon’s cancellation announcement, Israel’s propaganderists, Avi Mayer and Ido Daniel swiftly moved into action, maliciously attempting to smear the BDS movement by associating it with the unsubstantiated death threats.

This is not the first time unsubstantiated allegations of ‘threats’ have been used against the BDS campaign. Previous attempts by Israel’s hasbarists to dilute the impact of BDS on cancellations and performances with fictitious smears have included BDS campaigns on Paul McCartney, who played, dubstep artist Joker, who cancelled, metal band Arch Enemy, who played, Irish band Dervish, who cancelled, and Joy Harjo, who went ahead with her tour.

Ali Abunimah documented hasbarist smears against BDS attempts to persuade Joy Harjo to cancel:

‘An Israeli government-sponsored student hasbara (state propaganda) group called “What Is RAEL,” claimed victory in a tweet at what it called a “#BDSFail” and also claimed on its Facebook page, without offering any evidence, that Harjo had been subjected to “ugly threats from BDS activists – calling her to boycott Tel-Aviv University and its students.”’

Ironically, Ido Daniel, a board member from Whatisrael, and purveyor of recent smears above against the BDS campaign for Eric Burdon to cancel, has issued real threats against BDS activists.

“I believe it is time to expose the true face of anti-Semites who hide behind the guise of political correctness and other whitewashed expressions and exact an economic and personal cost from them. We must show the BDS activists that boycott and incitement have a price.”

That Israel’s propaganderists devote so much energy to attacking BDS and BDS activists is an important indicator that this Palestinian-led campaign to achieve freedom, justice and rights for Palestinians from apartheid, settler colonial Israel is succeeding.

Related Links

Time of Israel:

But his manager later wrote to Tislam to state that the show was off. “We are under increasing pressure, including many threatening emails that we are receiving on a daily basis. I wouldn’t want to put Eric in any danger,” his manager wrote, in comments released by Tislam on Tuesday.

In a statement, Tislam said, “To appear with Eric Burdon, one of the founding fathers of rock & roll, was an almost dream come true. We’re sorry that despite his personal assurance to us, that he bowed to pressure and cancelled his concert.”

Libel on Forbes

Eric Burdon cancels Israel gig but why?

i’d like to see some of these “nasty emails”

On UPI:

Tislam published a statement Tuesday saying Burdon’s manager had informed it the singer would not appear, Israel Radio said.

“We are under increasing pressure, including many threatening emails that we are receiving on a daily basis. I wouldn’t want to put Eric in any danger,” the manager said.

Australia’s Shameful Racism Against Refugees

Betty the PossumWhy do most Australians only stir in masses about endemic racism in Australian government policy when it comes to a head, as if victimisation of refugees arriving in boats is an anomaly instead of an institution? That Australian politicians can trigger the settler population so easily to reject refugees reveals suppressed self-hatred and alienation from the land. For settlers, the native ecosystem must be transformed, exploited, and converted to resemble the predating mother country, with monocultures of exotic introduced species termed ‘productive agriculture’ and Indigenous fauna and flora reframed as ‘pests’. Invading settlers in this sense are vectors for colonising plants and animals – for white colonists, refugees who bear competing species from regions regarded as ‘non-white’ are suspected, quarantined and feared. Thus, racist Australian colonials endeavour to delay refugees offshore, and now to expose them permanently to dangerous conditions in Papua New Guinea to colonise the jungle instead of diluting white supremacist Australia and jeopardising election results.

With an uprising of indignant, decent protest throughout Australia, is there hope?

Will the Human Rights Commission take action against this appalling advertisement, posted on the Rural Australians for Refugees site? The Australian government is apparently utilising social media to spread its divisive, opportunistic hate for asylum seekers.

How smooth is the regression to the sadism of Australia’s convict past, with disgraceful treatment of refugees on Manus Island exposed on SBS Dateline by a whistleblower:

“Words can’t describe,” Mr St George said. “I’ve never seen human beings so destitute, so helpless and so hopeless before.”

‘Mr St George alleged six men were sexually abused in the men-only tent section of the camp. Because there are no separate secure areas, he said, the victims were left in the same facilities as their attackers. “‘

Concurrently the racism behind the Northern Territory intervention, and embarrassing settler colonial collaborative sycophancy toward Israel and the US at the expense of Palestinians continues largely unchallenged. Each outrage which the fatal shore fetishises serves as a smokescreen for other repulsive human rights abuses. With inalienable individual rights sacrificed to white supremacist economic irrationalism, humans are treated by the political and financial elite as units of economic production. People are divided and exploited by racism and bigotry, made angry, powerless, weary and apathetic, distracted from questioning the rule of cruel, predatory elites who increasingly and disproportionately benefit from their global nightmare of neoliberal, patriarchal capitalist parasitism termed duplicitously as ‘progress’ and ‘civilisation’.

With the race to the bottom cheer-led by pernicious, opportunistic politicians, this gruesome explosion of racism by existing settler colonials, ex-refugees and their descendants in Australia at the moment makes one even more determined to stay on the property and pretend they don’t exist. One is tempted to identify merely as a visitor from another planet sent here to observe the ignominious downfall of the human species as its self-appointed greedy elite trample on humans considered undeserving, whilst contaminating the environment on which we all depend. .

No Pasaran

My favourite refugees arrive for dinner.
They’ve signed petitions. There’s hope.
El gobierno de Rudd habla con mala leche del diablo!
Abran las puertas hay lugar para mas gente!!
No tiene sentido de pelear y sancionar en Afghanistan,
Iran y Iraq y despues no recibir los ciudadanos de estos paises!!!
The garbanzos were delicious.

Jinjirrie, July 2013
Paradise Parrot

Neoliberal Darwinism

@KRuddMP
grew up empty
on a farm not far from Namboring,
lack of diversity a wedge for perversity
his rhetoric leaves us all snoring.

Jinjirrie, July 2013

The Paradise Parrot vs Genesis 1:28

White boats transport extinction
in flat watercolours and oils
stuffed and caged native treasures
consigned to monocultural oblivion

Jinjirrie, July 2013

Recipes for Revolution

when will the obstinate muse
reclaim the rituals
deliver them on a plate to share
i’m cooking words to open sesame
this cavern of just desserts
where my mother and her mother smile

Jinjirrie, July 2013

Here’s a list of rallies for refugee rights happening nationally this weekend:

Melbourne Saturday 27 July, 1pm, State Library
Sydney: Sunday 28 July, 12pm, Sydney Town Hall
Sydney West: Sunday 28 July, 12pm, Mount Druitt Hub
Brisbane: Saturday 27 July, 1pm, King George Square
Perth:Saturday 27th July, 1pm, Murray Street Mall
Adelaide: Saturday 27 July, 1pm, Parliament House

Related Links

Four reasons why dumping Australia’s responsibilities onto PNG is unacceptable and the NSW Rabbinical Council’s disgusting edict is hypocritical and racist. The Rabbinical Council of Victoria however takes a more ethical view.

Asylum deal ‘madness’, says PNG opposition

The Nauru Riot: Staff Condemn Cruel and Degrading Conditions

Get busy acquiring your own economic productivity accessory and replacement unit. Here in Arsestralia, the government bribes people to breed unilaterally with hefty baby bonuses, to ensure increase in the number of locals, as opposed to taking in those scruffy undeserving refugees.

Protesting the empire’s troops in Australia

Rudd giving succour to white supremacists

As in other countries, the work of reconciliation in Sri Lanka

will undoubtedly require a long, painstaking and painful process of mutual reflection and community-based dialogues. However, it cannot be avoided if we want seriously to address the asylum seeker problem.

Australia can play an important role, here and elsewhere, in assisting with community capacity building and supporting the re-emergence of an independent civil society sector. Often, as in this case, the presence of a committed and highly skilled diaspora community is a key resource on which we can draw.

While the process is time-consuming and labour-intensive it is relatively inexpensive: estimates suggest that an effective reconciliation process in Sri Lanka – which Australia could support – would cost less than 1 per cent of that spent on our border protection activities.

Palestine/Israel Links

It’s unlikely these ‘threats’ against Eric Burdon came from BDS folks. Whilst deploring anyone who threatens performers, one has to be cynical about unsourced ‘threats’, Israeli media and hearsay.

La Ashton is deeply into labelling settlement goods. Not enough, Catherine, but a start.[FB]

SOAS Conference in October:

‘In its embrace of self-criticism, the conference will focus on the ways Palestinian leadership and elites have become embedded in the logic of settler colonialism, embraced neoliberal capitalism, and reproduced social and political accommodation of the Oslo process. However, it also aims to widen our lens, and examine the growing socialisation and reproduction of Oslo logics in Palestinian political and social life, and the ways in which Palestinian resistance against Oslo and Israel, and international solidarity with that resistance, has reproduced the very conditions it seeks to overturn. In particular, we hope to highlight the context and consequences of the re-orientation of the liberation struggle into a legal and rights-based approach; the political, geographical, and social separation of the Palestinian body politic in movement discourse and strategy; the proliferation of an unaccountable “political solution/vision market” and unchecked practices of solidarity; and growing alienation and distancing of Palestinians from others engaged in similar struggles against settler-colonialism.

With this conference, SOAS Palestine Society hopes to build on its long-standing commitment to critically rigorous movement thought and analysis in an emancipatory and committed space.”