System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian shares thoughts on boycotts and the Israel and Palestine war

nme.com:

System Of A Down‘s Serj Tankian has weighed in on the current situation in Palestine and the movement to boycott companies with ties to Israel.Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 in response to its occupation of Palestinian territories, killing 1,189 people.

Israel’s ongoing operations in the interim have killed 37,702 Palestinians [via Al Jazeera].Recently, record labels, promoters and more have called for a cultural boycott of Israel through the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), an offshoot of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) which was behind the huge wave of drop-outs from The Great Escape, Latitude Festival and Download Festival this year.In an interview with NME about his new autobiography Down With The System, Tankian has given his take on current world events and the ongoing boycotts.

Though he pointed to the way activism is “taken hostage” by “certain fringe elements of society”, he believes most activists have good intentions.

He also goes on to suggest Israel’s president Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal.“It’s important for the youth to raise their voice, because we are not living in a just world,” Tankian said. “I think in some cases, pure activism is taken hostage by certain fringe elements of society, including in the US – certain anti-Semites who have gotten into that world.