{"id":36917,"date":"2017-06-12T15:13:30","date_gmt":"2017-06-12T21:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=36917"},"modified":"2017-06-12T15:13:30","modified_gmt":"2017-06-12T21:13:30","slug":"wonder-woman-big-name-concerts-upstage-cultural-boycott-of-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wonder-woman-big-name-concerts-upstage-cultural-boycott-of-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Wonder Woman,\u2019 big-name concerts upstage cultural boycott of Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By ADAM ABRAMS<\/p>\n<p>(JNS.org) &#8212; As Israeli actress Gal Gadot\u2019s \u201cWonder Woman\u201d film heads toward $400 million in earnings after debuting in early June, and numerous big-name musical acts line up to perform in Israel this summer, the influence of the BDS movement\u2019s cultural boycott of the Jewish state appears to be waning.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_36921\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Gal_Gadot.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36921\" class=\"wp-image-36921 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Gal_Gadot-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Gal_Gadot\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Gal_Gadot-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Gal_Gadot.jpg 1000w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36921\" class=\"wp-image-36921 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Gal_Gadot-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Gal_Gadot\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Gal_Gadot-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Gal_Gadot.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-36921\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;Wonder Woman&#8221; star Gal Gadot. Credit: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Gadot, who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), has drawn ire from anti-Israel activists worldwide for her vocal support of Israel. Yet despite BDS campaigns to boycott \u201cWonder Woman\u201d in Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia and Algeria due to the \u201cZionist\u201d actress\u2019s leading role, Gadot\u2019s Marvel comic superhero movie soared to success\u2014earning $103.1 million in North America during its first weekend\u2014and received overwhelmingly positive reviews.<\/p>\n<p>On the musical front, while leading artists routinely receive BDS pressure to cancel their shows in Israel, the number of star-studded acts scheduled to perform in the Jewish state this summer is unprecedented.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost artists understand that boycott campaigns in this case are racist and destructive, and will not lead to peace,\u201d Roz Rothstein, CEO of the pro-Israel education organization StandWithUs, told JNS.org.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot only is the boycott movement against Israel a failure among performing artists, but 21 [U.S.] states have already passed anti-BDS legislation because it is viewed as discriminatory and harmful,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>In May, the Aerosmith rock band and pop star Justin Bieber both performed at Tel Aviv\u2019s Hayarkon Park, resisting BDS petitions signed by thousands to cancel their concerts in Israel. Adding to their defiance of the boycott movement, the Aerosmith rockers met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his office in Jerusalem. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to miss a thing,\u201d Netanyahu told the band when recommending places to visit in Israel, a reference to the group\u2019s first number-one hit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArtists that come to Israel have understood that people are trying to take advantage of them because of hatred and for narrow political needs\u2026.[At their performances] they see a young, liberal, open audience\u2026and feel that attempts to make them boycott Israel do not give credit to their intelligence,\u201d Lior Weintraub, vice president of The Israel Project educational organization, told JNS.org.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_36920\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/aerosmith-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36920\" class=\"wp-image-36920 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/aerosmith-1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Steven Tyler, lead singer of rock band Aerosmith, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, as the band makes a tour stop in Israel for a concert, on May 15, 2017. Photo by Rob Ghost\/Flash90\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/aerosmith-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/aerosmith-1.jpg 1000w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36920\" class=\"wp-image-36920 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/aerosmith-1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Steven Tyler, lead singer of rock band Aerosmith, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, as the band makes a tour stop in Israel for a concert, on May 15, 2017. Photo by Rob Ghost\/Flash90\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/aerosmith-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/aerosmith-1.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-36920\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler (center) visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem, May 15, 2017. (Photo credit: Rob Ghost\/Flash90)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Besides the Bieber and Aersomith performances, big-name shows hitting Israel this summer include Tom Jones, Armin van Buuren, Britney Spears, the Pixies, Guns N&#8217; Roses, Rod Stewart, Lil Wayne, Radiohead and comedian Chris Rock.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of Radiohead\u2019s July 19 performance in Tel Aviv, the band publicly clashed with the de facto frontman of the BDS movement, Pink Floyd\u2019s Roger Waters, over the cultural boycott of Israel.<\/p>\n<p>The public spat was instigated when Waters, along with South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, published an open letter on Israel\u2019s Holocaust Remembrance Day demanding that Radiohead cancel its performance in Israel.<\/p>\n<p>The letter, co-signed by dozens of artists, stated, \u201cBy playing in Israel you\u2019ll be playing in a state where, U.N. rapporteurs say, \u2018A system of apartheid has been imposed on the Palestinian people\u2019\u2026Please do what artists did in South Africa\u2019s era of oppression: stay away, until apartheid is over.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Radiohead\u2019s lead singer, Thom Yorke\u2014who rarely speaks with the media\u2014responded furiously to the letter in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.<\/p>\n<p>Yorke lambasted critics of Radiohead who assumed he and his bandmates were ignorant about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and condemned Waters for \u201cthrow[ing] the word \u2018apartheid\u2019 around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe kind of dialogue that [BDS activists] want to engage in is one that\u2019s black or white. I have a problem with that,\u201d said Yorke, who added it is \u201creally upsetting that artists I respect think we are not capable of making a moral decision ourselves after all these years\u2026.There\u2019s an awful lot of people who don\u2019t agree with the BDS movement, including us. I don\u2019t agree with the cultural ban at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Creative Community for Peace co-founder David Renzer told JNS.org, \u201cWe are pleased to see the continuation of major international artists performing in Israel, despite the ongoing efforts of the BDS movement and artists such as Roger Waters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Renzer, whose organization works \u201cbehind the scenes\u201d to provide support to artists performing in Israel, added, \u201cThankfully, artists are recognizing that the arts are a powerful means to building bridges and aren\u2019t allowing themselves to be manipulated.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"%E2%80%98Wonder%20Woman%2C%E2%80%99%20big-name%20concerts%20upstage%20cultural%20boycott%20of%20Israel\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7139,7137],"tags":[8558,8790,8795,8788,8559,7736],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36917"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36917"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36922,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36917\/revisions\/36922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}