Musician and writer Nick Cave declared at a press conference on Sunday that he wanted to ‘make a principled stand’ by crossing the Palestinian boycott picket line, dismissing widespread calls to cancel his group the Bad Seeds’ two concerts in Tel Aviv. Cave’s words have found him a new fan-base in the form of Israel’s government: there has been an outpouring of public endorsements from its foreign ministry and diplomatic missions across Europe, the U.S., and Australia, as well as from numerous lobby groups.
We have sampled, and reproduced below, tweets from ten Israeli government bodies and spokespeople and seven lobby groups, all of which work hard to counter the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) human rights movement and promote Israel’s interests.
Nick Cave declared his love for Israel, and the Israeli regime reciprocated, providing further proof, if any were needed, of the propaganda value to Israel of appearances by international artists. Cave has gifted Israel’s government a PR coup. Yet Israel’s imposition of decades of military occupation and apartheid against the indigenous Palestinian population is increasingly being challenged by principled solidarity, including from artists. Instead of helping Israel’s regime to whitewash its violations of Palestinian human rights, we invite Cave to support those working for freedom and rights for all.
1. Israeli government and embassies
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson:
Diplomat, spokesperson for the Embassy of Israel, Washington, DC:
Consulate General of Israel in New York:
Embassy of Israel in Germany:
Embassy of Israel in Ireland:
Embassy of Israel in Portugal:
Embassy of Israel in Norway:
Deputy Ambassador of Israel in Spain:
Diplomat responsible for Civil Society Affairs, Embassy of Israel, London:
2. Israel lobby
Stand With Us
Unite With Israel:
We Believe in Israel:
The Israel Project:
Creative Community for Peace:
Maccabee Task Force:
Sussex Friends of Israel:
Artists for Palestine UK 
This was expected. Sadly. (As evident in the previous posts & comment threads here).
I find it telling that so many anti-BDS people focus on & demonise Roger Waters (even to the exclusion of other anti-BDS artists) – accusing him of hatred & antisemitism – without mentioning Palestinians & the horrors they are forced to endure & the Palestinian diaspora exiled from their home. (Which feels really Orientalist to me. People talking *about* us rather than *to* us).
This kind of spin is not working on everyone anymore. The truth is finally opening people’s eyes. Truth is a Haven. (Arabic saying). Thank you & love to everyone supporting BDS & those still coming to shore – join us – our home is yours. xx
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Correction: I meant to write ‘even to the exclusion of other pro-BDS artists’ – not -“anti-BDS artists”.
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It is about time you published both sides of the debate
thank you!
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