Israel slams 'cultural terrorism' as Pixies cancel gig

It's ironic. There is more freedom of speech in Israel than in, say, Iran--where there are severe restrictions on music and on live performances. But when musicians choose not to speak--not to perform--as a form of protest, they are labeled terrorists by some Israelis. I wonder what the Israelis calling the musicians terrorists would have said if the musicians had appeared on stage, but instead of playing, had used the opportunity to discuss alternatives to current the Israeli policies. For instance, laws could be put into place that guarentee equal rights for persons of all religions, ethnicities--and equal rights for women. --Julie Jigsawnovich

Hazel Ward of AFP reports:

"JERUSALEM — Israel is falling victim to "cultural terrorism," a top music promoter charged on Sunday, after US alternative rock group The Pixies cancelled their first-ever gig in the Jewish state.

"The band was to have performed a single gig on Wednesday as part of a five-day music festival in Tel Aviv, but pulled out just days after a deadly Israeli naval raid on a foreign aid flotilla that left nine activists dead.

"The Pixies' decision to cancel comes three months after the band received an open letter from Israeli human rights activists urging them not to come to the Jewish state.

"'As much as some of us are huge fans and would love to hear your show, we won't cross the international picket line that is growing in numbers steadily nowadays to come and see you,' the group Boycott! wrote in an open letter to the band sent on March 1."