Spanish Reggae festival Rototom has dropped Jewish musician Matisyahu from its line-up after he refused a request to publicly back a Palestinian state.
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The Rototom Sunsplash Reggae Festival in Valencia said they canceled Matisyahu’s show after he rejected their demand to issue either a written or video statement supporting “the Palestinians’ right to a state”. The pressure appeared too much for the festival organizers.
Matisyahu, who released his first album in 2004, was affiliated with the Chabad-Lubavitch movement but later distanced himself from it by famously shaving his beard and side locks. He has been very outspoken and open about his religious beliefs.
Matisyahu was going to play on August. 22 at the Rototom Sunsplash, but he has since been replaced with Etana, who is originally from Jamaica. “The Jamaican artist will perform at the Main Stage the night of August 22”.
World Jewish Congress President Ron Lauder called the decision “a clear instance of anti-Semitism and nothing else, urging Spanish authorities “to condemn this sad incident and take appropriate action against those responsible for it”.
Other artists scheduled to perform are understood to have threatened to cancel their appearances if Matisyahu were “seen to represent Israel”, according to reports in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
The Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain said in a statement the cancellation was “cowardly, unfair and discriminatory”. “In this case, the BDS Movement employed all its anti-Semitic arsenal against the participation on Matthew Paul Miller”, using Matisyahu’s full name.
Organizers of the festival posted a message on Facebook Saturday explaining that the move was based on “the festival’s sensitivity to Palestine, its people and the occupation of its territory by Israel”, according to the Times of Israel’s translation. The singer used to be Hasidic (a branch of Orthodox Judaism).
“Such acts violate the fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution, deny the legitimate exercise of professional activities and cause discrimination and hatred that preys with groups and individuals for their origin”, it said.
Jews now are subject to loyalty tests by BDS – loyalty that is to being anti-Israel.
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Defenders of the BDS movement often claim, in spite of evidence to the contrary, that it is narrowly targeted.
