Big Thief cancel shows in Tel Aviv following criticism

nme.com:

Big Thief have cancelled two shows in Tel Aviv, less than a week after they were first announced, following criticism over their decision to play in Israel.The band, who released new double album ‘Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You’ back in February, were set to play a pair of shows in bassist Max Oleartchick’s hometown on July 6 and 7.But today (June 9), they’ve confirmed that both shows will be cancelled.“We would like to start by clarifying a few things from our first post.

When we spoke of loving ‘beyond disagreement’ and not knowing ‘where the moral high ground lies,’ that was in specific referred to playing shows in Israel during a time where BDS (The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is a Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel) is calling for a cultural boycott,” starts the post. “This was not in reference to the Israeli occupation and the displacement of Palestinians.”“To be clear, we oppose the illegal occupation and the systematic oppression of the Palestinian people.

We believe in total freedom and self-determination for all Palestinians”.“Although we have much to learn, these basic realities were never in question for us,” continued the statement. “We said we are ‘well aware of the cultural aspects of the BDS boycott’ and we have since realised that that is not the case.”A post shared by Big Thief (@bigthiefmusic)“Our intent in wanting to play the shows in Tel Aviv, where Max was born, raised and currently lives, stemmed from a simple belief that music can heal.