Debate on Music and Political Boycotts

Cancelling music is like taking books off the shelves.

That was Radiohead's lead guitarist Johnny Greenwood defending his rejection of the

boycott of Israeli artists during a recent interview with El Pais.

But here's what Greenwood leaves out.

The issue is the role Israeli institutions and musicians have historically played in

supporting and sustaining the IOF, while Palestinians and Lebanese remain under

bombardment, siege, ethnic cleansing, genocide, and forced displacement.

For decades, IOF bands have operated as an official arm of army morale operations.

The first IOF band was established during the 1948 Nakba, specifically to boost troop morale.

By the 1960s and 70s, IOF bands have become a cultural phenomenon inside the occupation,

producing mainstream stars, patriotic songs, and musicians through army entertainment units

tied directly to the IOF.

Some of Israel's biggest entertainers began inside the IOF.

Eurovision figures like Neta Berzelai and Noah Kirel served in army bands,

while political figures including Jerusalem mayor Moshe Lyon performed in military religious

released albums after the 1967 and 1976 wars to strengthen soldiers' attachment

to Zionist and religious identity.

The IOF even openly flexes when musicians are sent to perform for soldiers in Gaza

and along the Lebanese border to keep combatants going and help troops

return to their war crimes with a smile.

Through the IOF's Outstanding Musicians program,

singers and performers continue their artistic careers while serving inside structures

tasked with boosting morale, reinforcing military ideology,

and supporting combat units during wartime.

Army bands perform multiple daily shows for troops,

entertainers travel between combat units during wartime,

and musicians publicly describe their role as helping soldiers emotionally recover

so they can continue their aggressions.

That history is central to why boycott campaigns targeting Israeli cultural normalization

have intensified.

No surprises there.

Greenwood's longtime collaborator Dudu Tessa has faced criticism

over performances linked to IOF audiences,

while activists from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel

accused the duo of helping art-wash genocide.

So Greenwood, The Little Letdown is the

defending artistic freedom while ignoring the political conditions surrounding the artists

being defended.

While he insists music should stand above politics, Israeli music has never been separated

from politics, military identity, or violence in the first place.

This creep may call the boycott censorship, but for Palestinians and Lebanese living under

ethnic cleansing and genocide, the issue is artists singing for IOF soldiers so they can

go ahead and kill us with good morale.