Radiohead: “Israel? We are victims of the witch hunt”

Radiohead break their silence on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Ended up at the center of controversy several times – in 2017 they played in Tel Aviv despite it anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and BDS Sanctions protests, last year Yorke clashed with a protester during a show in Melbourne and then left the stage, JohnnY Greenwood was criticized for making records with Israeli musician Dudu Tassa – now the members of the “Creep” band expose their positions on the topic. And they do so in a long interview granted to Time, while anticipation grows for the tour which in November will mark Radiohead’s return to the stage (and which will also pass through Italy, in Bologna).

Speaking about the criticism he received, Yorke said:

This thing keeps me up at night. They tell me what I’ve done with my life, what I should do next, and that what I think doesn’t make sense. People want to take what I’ve done, which means so much to millions of people, and sweep me away. But it’s not their job to take that away from me, and I don’t consider myself a bad person. Recently, I happened to hear myself shouting ‘Liberate Palestine!’ on the street. I talked to a guy. His response was: ‘You have a platform, a duty and you need to distance yourself from Jonny.’ But I said, ‘You and me, standing on the street in London, shouting at each other? Well, the real criminals, who should appear before the ICC (International Criminal Court), laugh at us arguing with each other in the public sphere and on social media, while they continue to kill people with impunity.’ It is an expression of helplessness. It’s a purity test, a low-level Arthur Miller witch hunt. I deeply respect the dismay, but it’s very strange to be the victim.

Greenwood added:

The left looks for traitors, the right for converts, and it is depressing that we are as close to them as possible. Booing at a concert seems neither courageous nor progressive to me.

Yorke was asked if he would play in Israel with Radiohead again and he replied: “Absolutely not. I wouldn’t want to be 8,000 kilometers from the Netanyahu regime, but Jonny has roots there. So I understand.” Greenwood for his part said: “The only thing I’m ashamed of is that I dragged Thom and the others into this mess, but I’m not ashamed of working with Arab and Jewish musicians. I can’t apologize for that.”