Flanders Festival Ghent says it made decision over lack of ‘clarity’ about incoming conductor Lahav Shani’s views.
While Shani had spoken in favour of “peace and reconciliation” in the past, his attitude towards the “genocidal regime in Tel Aviv” was unclear given his role as the chief conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the festival organisers said.
It seems that every Jewish person is now expected to pass an arbitrary moral purity test in order to participate in polite society.
The Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra performs with the IDF Orchestra.
Sorry sir your victim card has expired.
What a disgusting statement, when someone who has spoken up for peace and reconciliation is banned from a European country based on the city where he was born and his ethnicity. It wouldn’t be right for someone from China, it wouldn’t be right for someone from Syria, it wouldn’t be right in ANY circumstance.
Liberal Zionists are no different to any other Zionist, they are just better at dressing up apartheid and genocide in palatable, rhetorically pleasing language for Western audiences. Unless Israelis renounce Zionism and call for full equality of Palestinians they are only there as ambassadors to culture wash the crimes of their colony.
He is an Israeli citizen and music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. I’d say he can be seen as representing Israel (Israel, not necessarily the current regime) on a cultural level. Russian athletes can be barred from international events - why is it too much to ask to distance himself from the atrocities in Palestine?
People think this is a personal attack. It’s not (unless this guy actively supports his government). It’s sad that people suffer because of their government actions? Yes. Is it necessary? As a symbolic act of protest against a regime you don’t support, also yes.
I personally don’t understand the logic of this symbolic act of protest, but I often don’t understand how protest is supposed to function. It did pull more attention towards gaza, and attention is everything.
Would a better protest be to keep the invite, but plaster the space with material about the genocide? Let the person quit if this offends them (which would probably be a more sympathetic headline and just as newsworthy) and make a story out of the performance if they don’t (which should be very photogenic).
The logic is telling Israel “your country is not welcome here, we don’t agree with you”, which is different from saying " your people are not welcome here", because only representative are affected
Look at how they never answer your question. It’s incredible how there is people still defend israrl in anyway or shape
Russian athletes are allowed to compete as neutrals in international events, as long as they do not openly endorse the war in Ukraine.
Idf soldiers are allowed to compete
The only reason Russia and Belarus are banned is that basically the entire West was calling for it. That did not happen with Israel. Just looking at the Olympics, the only ones calling for Israel being banned were the Palestinians. Nobody else, not even from fellow Arab countries could get up and complain at the IOC. No wonder nothing happened. Same is unfortunately true for other countries like Myanmar, which is currently also committing a genocide. The West really does not care about that one though. Either way that is.
I don’t care about their thought process. At this point Israel should be treated as Nazi Germany. Germany as a whole was banned from participating in the Olympic Games in 1948 for example
In this particular case, he is not conducting as a representative of Israel or any Israeli organization. These acting as a representative of the Munich Philharmonic.
This is strictly about his national origin and ethnicity.
Such half-assed, predictable, lazy moving goalposts here.
“All Jews now…” (extraordinary statement from you)
“Well no, how about because he’s a citizen of the country perpetrating a genocide, crime of all crimes?”
“Yeah exactly, in this specific case they’re targeting him cuz of his national origin!” (roughly an entire galaxy away from your original claim)
If you’re being disingenuous (my assumption) - go fuck yourself. If you’re actually just this bad at thinking and argumentation, strongly consider sticking to reading the comments of others.
If you’re a U.S. citizen should you have to publicly denounce Trump’s fascism or else get banished from the sane parts of the world?
Yes. Fuck yes.
Even when talking about completely different subjects?
And if so, how often? Do they need a precursor on every post?
Yes, whenever, and if asked.
Tens of millions of US citizens voted in a pedophile. So yes, I’d say you’d have to publicly announce you’re not part of the majority that supports a rapist.
Every Israeli person maybe, not every Jewish person, they don’t all live in one small part of the world, גדליה.
what? am i supposed to take responsibility for my government? how are you keepin’ up with that?
I have talked with a handful of Israelis and all of them are heartless racists that support the genocide.
I think the good Israelis are only a few percent.
Sadly true, as an Israeli, i don’t know
manyany others besides my partner that see the genocide for what it is, the situation feels very hopelessMy ex-girlfriend was American and half-Jewish (on her father’s side), thoroughly non-religious and very liberal. But after high school she spent a summer in Israel on kibbutz and somehow it made her completely insane on the subject of the Palestinians. She talked about how they needed to be exterminated and that Israel was completely right in what they were doing (and this was the '90s). If I tried to argue with her she insisted that I couldn’t understand since I’d never been to Israel. It was like talking to someone possessed by a demon.
I’m sorry you had to go through something like that, i can only say I’m vaguely familiar with the feeling of seeing this from someone as close as a significant other.
Hope you’ll find someone new you’ll see eye to eye with.
i said maybe, not every Israeli is responsible for their fascist state, but shit, a lot of them are, even the liberals who always were just fascists and now have no problem with the genocide in Gaza.
I would know, i have to interact with them every day.
I never had any power or representation though, and was always against all of this even if I’m not really active, always concerned with survival and escape, so i don’t think a person like myself is responsible, I’m not gonna point a finger at any powerless person that has to look at this shit from the inside.
So yeah, maybe, it depends.