Over 600 musicians sign letter calling to boycott Israel

(I24) More than 600 musicians, including members of Rage Against the Machine, The Roots, Cypress Hill and Run the Jewels, have signed a statement calling on their fellow artists to boycott Israel and Israeli-affiliated institutions in light of the latest developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Silence is not an option, as the brutal Israeli bombardment of besieged Gaza claimed more than 245 lives in the last weeks,” the letter states, referring to the 11-day conflagration between Israel and the Palestinian terrorists of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, where the latter fired over 4,000 missiles at the Jewish state that claimed 12 lives.

“We call for you to join us with your name in refusing to perform at Israel’s complicit cultural institutions, and by standing firm in your support of the Palestinian people and their human right to sovereignty and freedom,” the letter read. “We believe this is crucial to one day live in a world without segregation and apartheid.”

Israel staunchly rejects the accusation that it subjects Palestinians to a multi-tiered regime of domination and segregation along the lines of the racist form of governance that held sway in South Africa between 1948 and 1991.

Other signatories included Julian Casablancas and Serj Tankian, the frontmen of The Strokes and System of a Down respectively, Patti Smith, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Montreal post-rockers Godspeed You! Black Emperor, as well as Roger Waters, a Pink Floyd legend and veteran of anti-Israel campaigning.