If a vociferously antisemitic musician wants to make his living performing and spouting his noxious views at private venues, I don’t see any reason to prevent him from doing so– as long as people know what he stands for.
But when his performance is paid for in part by the Lottery-funded Arts Council of England, there is good reason to raise hell.
And when a workshop at the same Lottery-funded event bears the title “Songs to Counter the Zionist Bullies,” alarms should be going off.
Unfortunately it would never even occur to the organizers of an event like Raise Your Banners to invite a group like Israel’s Arab-Jewish Youth Orchestra or the Shani Choir.
Believe it or not, there was a time in the dim past when Israeli music was popular and widely-performed on the Left– at least in the US.
(Hat tip: Richard Gold at Engage.)
