Nick Cave responds to “double standard” criticism over Palestine views after cancelling Ukraine gigs
nme.comNick Cave has responded to criticism over his views on Palestine after cancelling forthcoming gigs in Russia and Ukraine.Earlier this week (March 1), Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds announced that they had cancelled their scheduled concerts in Russia and Ukraine this summer due to Vladimir Putin’s invasion, saying: “Ukraine, we stand with you.”In a post on his Red Hand Files website, Cave responded to a fan criticising him for cancelling these gigs, but refusing to do so with shows in Israel back in 2017, when he went ahead with shows and told local press that doing so would be a defiant statement against anyone “who tries to censor and silence musicians”.“At the end of the day, there’s maybe two reason why I’m here.
One is that I love Israel and I love Israeli people, and two is to make a principled stand against anyone who tries to censor and silence musicians,” Cave said at the time.
He was subsequently criticised by Thurston Moore, Roger Waters and others.In the new Red Hand Files entry, a fan called Ahmet from Istanbul wrote: “A few days ago, the message from the band about the Ukrainian situation dropped to my newsfeed on my social media accounts.
You expressed clear and undivided solidarity with the Ukrainians, which they need all over the world right now.“What bugs me about the Ukrainian message though is that you haven’t expressed such a support for the Palestinian people.
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