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Bono slammed for U2's decision to play in Israel

PATRICK ROBERTS,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Monday, February 8, 2010, 7:10 AM

Updated Monday, February 8, 2010, 9:38 AM

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U2 frontman Bono

Rock star and activist Bono and his band U2 face a boycott and action from pro-Palestinian groups after agreeing to play in Israel this summer.

The influential Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) has urged Bono to 'say no to Israel,' pointing out he has turned down a similar invitation two years ago.

"Performing in Israel would violate the almost unanimously endorsed Palestinian civil society Call for Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. This Call is directed particularly towards international activists, artists, and academics of conscience, such as yourself. Moreover, it would come a year and a half after Israel’s bloody military assault against the occupied Gaza Strip which left over 1,440 Palestinians dead, of whom 431 were children, and 5380 injured, " the letter stated.

The letter also called on Bono to live by what he recently wrote in The New York Times. "In a recent New York Times op-ed, you wrote of your hope ‘that the regimes in North Korea, Myanmar and elsewhere are taking note of the trouble an aroused citizenry can give to tyrants.’

“You went on to further elaborate on the hope that “people in places filled with rage and despair, places like the Palestinian territories, will in the days ahead find among them their Gandhi, their King, their Aung San Suu Kyi.” Rather than shifting the blame from the violence of the colonial oppressor to the resistance of the indigenous oppressed and characterizing the Palestinians as a population filled with “rage and despair,” it is more apt to consider them among the “aroused citizenry” responding to tyranny – Israel‘s regime of occupation and apartheid."

The letter goes on to praise Bono's activism in other conflict resolution areas: "A whole generation was affected by your musical activism, when you sang of the civil rights movement in America, the everyday human heroes in El Salvador and the brave struggles in Ireland – you filled a space that forced political morality into pop culture. Entertaining apartheid Israel despite all the injustice it is committing against the Palestinians would significantly smear this great legacy of yours.

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amigo | Apr 10, 2012, 03:04 PM EDT

Bono should be ashamed of himself---aiding and abetting the criminal enterprise that is Israel.

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beardiethor | Dec 23, 2010, 05:22 AM EST

I had a feeling that someone as wise as Bono, like Paul McCartney could easily see through the endless cycle caused by the Palestinian Propaganda war machine & do the right thing. In addition, the whole propaganda group is rather dubious at best. How in heaven's name can you boycott something you've never patronized (and never will). Let's call if for what it is. While Israel continues to build an impressive place in the arts, science and medicine (is said to be very close to an AIDS cure for instance); the thugs from Palestine continue to use any and every penny they get to blow their intestines onto the ceiling of Israeli weddings, etc. How can they expect anyone with any cultural wherewithal to go along with their scam. Have you noticed that the artists who have joined have either are A. Way past being has beens, I was surprised some of them were even still living, or B. Who in the world has heard of them, and if so supported their art? A salute to Bono, and so many other musical and artistic greats who continue to support Israel; and, like me would LOVE to see a two party peaceful solution. And no, I am not one of those "Israel is always right" persons, in fact have been publicly critical of a number of its policies. But for a terrorist group to tell a country it has no right to exist; well, has it worked yet? Both Jordan and Egypt quit bombing Israel over 4 decades ago and guess what...they've not been bombed by Israel since. Don't you think Gaza might take a clue as to how the world works? It doesn't take a genius to figure it all out. A little common sense is all that is needed.

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ralphsrant1 | Aug 17, 2010, 10:39 PM EDT

Thank you Bono for not joining the list of Anti Semitic Irish musicians boycotting Israel. Anti Zionism is Antisemitism

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IrishAndProud | Feb 10, 2010, 02:34 PM EST

As for your thoughts about the Jewish faith, kickstar...I really don't care. Those are your views -- and they change nothing.

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IrishAndProud | Feb 10, 2010, 02:28 PM EST

It's free and open space to post as many responses as I please, kickstar -- just as it is for you. There's a lot to say about this matter, which is why I've done so...I say what I feel is important. If you don't like it, don't read it. Pretty easy stuff. As for you thinking I'm Jewish (interesting you believe G-d is telling you that), I'm flattered and only take that as a compliment, even though it's not so (I do have Jewish family, though). I spell G-d that way -- with a letter missing -- for the same reason that Orthodox Jews do: The name is to remain so revered that even writing it out entirely should not be done. I respect and agree with that approach, and so I do it, myself.

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kickstar | Feb 10, 2010, 02:17 PM EST

Hey ' IrishAndProud ' Do you think this is your Blog space???And Do you know what G-d tells me about you ??? You are Jewish and you follow the Superstitions that make up that belief system...Try typing his name it is God very simple God.

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seanomelbourne | Feb 10, 2010, 01:28 PM EST

I,m like a flower born to blush unseen wasting my sweetness on the desert air" (Grey).Irish shed your siege mentality and you will set yourself free .

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IrishAndProud | Feb 10, 2010, 05:52 AM EST

(continued)...now, about Arabs and Christians (some are both) living in Israel, were you aware that Arabs in Israel are perfectly allowed to practice their faith there (Israel even allowed Arab women to vote before any Arab nation did), and are exempted from compulsory military service for Israel (though many do, in fact, serve)? And finally, we in the west have the luxury of being concerned about democracy (a Greco-Roman concept, not Jewish), but when you're a Jewish person living in your tiny, ancient homeland -- surrounded by the sea on one side and hostile enemies who've sworn your destruction on nearly all others -- you can't just pull out of this area, or leave that area because some foreign country(s) thousands of miles away demand that you conform to THEIR ideas of goverment, society, borders, etc. It just doesn't work that way for certain other nations...nations like Israel, in particular. Now throw in on top of all this, of course, the fact that the Jews have been targeted over and over and over again throughout history for persecution, pogroms, murder and extermination like virtually no other people -- and you can begin to see why they feel as they do, with regard to self-preservation. Most other lands they've been murdered and/or expelled in, and they have others continuously threatening to do likewise to them, in their own land. They do not deliberately 'keep' the Arabs in perpetually overcrowded and impoverished conditions because they're evil and just love seeing them suffer; the Israelis probably like the whole situation even less than the world does. But they don't have a lot of options, here.

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IrishAndProud | Feb 10, 2010, 05:36 AM EST

Sean, if you read the Jewish T-rah, you will see that Abraham (whose name was originally Abram, before he was recognized as the first Jew) was specifically commanded by G-d to LEAVE his homeland and go to the land which today is Israel. Further, when the Israelites left slavery in Egypt and were given the T-rah, the boundaries of their land were very specifically marked...again, with that land being precisely where their descendants currently live. Yes I know the UN does not recognize those areas as part of Israel...but A) Israel took control of those areas preemtively when Arab armies were moving to destroy it in 1967, and B) Judea and Samaria (aka the 'West Bank') were, and have always been the very heart of Jewish Israel. Without those areas, Israel is especially vulnerable to another attack, being only 10 miles wide at its narrowest...and as I've mentioned, we've seen what happened when Israel merely withdrew from Gaza alone, expecting 'peace' in return; they only got the opposite, by an emboldened enemy, who repeated their goal of wiping Israel out. Jerusalem has always been Israel's capital, and in fact was a Jewish city long before it was in any way Arab (let alone Crusader). Jerusalem is mentioned countless times in the T-rah, and yet does not even appear ONCE in the entire Muslim Q'uran. As for Islam, I've no problem with it so long as its followers do not seek to kill Jews, destroy Israel, and overrun western countries with its people and culture and impose its views by force and/or terrorism on others (this is also why I'm not a neo-con, regarding democracy).

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seanomelbourne | Feb 10, 2010, 04:02 AM EST

I'm sorry you did not get the pun "in denial (Nile)"however lets move on,if Abraham was the first Jew and as we know he hailed from the ancient city of Ur which is in the modern state of Iraq should you also claim Ur as a Jewish state should the America be returned to it's indigenous owners and the list goes on. The UN does not recognize the West Bank,Gaza or east Jerusalem as part of Israel.And for the record the 1967 borders were agreed by most countries including the USA. For the record I am Irish living in Australia I presume you reside in the USA so neither of us are indigenous to our respective area's. I am not interested in my neighbors religion,color or or creed.Unfortunately you show a Muslim bias by the way what about the second class Christians living along side the second class Arabs in Palestine.Looking at the time differential maybe you reside in Ireland or Brittan and not the USA.By the way I do not worry about Jews ,Arabs or Christians only Justice and democracy.

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IrishAndProud | Feb 10, 2010, 12:53 AM EST

Sean...1) why should I live in Egypt? What's that have to do with anything, here? 2) There have always been Jews who for whatever reason oppose the concept of Zionism (I'm no supporter of secular Zionism, myself)...and, your point? Israel still exists, and has for decades, now. What's supposed to become of it, exactly -- and all the people in it, who've been there for generations, now? Again, would you accept them into your own country? 3)I've not 'muddied' the waters or strayed from the topic, either one. I've been explaining WHY the Arabs are living under the conditions they are. Lastly...are YOU an indigenous native of the land that YOU live in, Sean? If not, then why don't YOU return to the land of YOUR ancestors, rather than worrying about the Jews of Israel on the other side of the world, who ARE in their own land?

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IrishAndProud | Feb 10, 2010, 12:45 AM EST

Sean, firstly there have always been Jews who for one reason or another do not support the concept of Zionism -- either because they're in secular rebellion against their faith and feel no real connection to the land of Israel at all, and/or because their particular religious perspective (as with some sects of Orthodox Jews) forbids what they see as an attempt by man to usurp G-d's will...and/or anywhere in between. I could list names all day long for you. It does not change the fact that the nation of Israel now exists, and has for many decades now...and for the Arab leadership in Gaza to have its way, Israel would have to cease to exist COMPLETELY, and then what of all its inhabitants, many of whom have now been born and raised there for generations? The land of Israel has been Jewish for thousands of years; they were scattered off it through foreign invasion and even then not all Jews ever totally left it (some have always remained). The concept that it is someone else's land has never been the case -- there is not now, nor has never been, a sovreign independent nation called 'Palestine.' It was always a foreign-occupied territory, when it went by that name...and had become populated by Arab peoples in the meantime, who did not exactly develop the land much beyond how they'd found it.

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seanomelbourne | Feb 09, 2010, 11:43 PM EST

You should live in Egypt you're in denial Irish, maybe you should read Noah Chomsky or other Jews who are not anti Jewish but anti Zionist. The development of Palestine is irrelevant to the ownership of the land ,in other words my neighbor does cut his lawn therefore i will take it and develop it,an irrational concept.Please do not muddy the waters by straying from the original premise.Oppression is oppression regardless of who the perpetrator is be it Iran, Israel, USA, etc.

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IrishAndProud | Feb 09, 2010, 10:09 PM EST

Also, Sean...the development of resources in Israel has happened almost entirely at the hands of the JEWISH people, some of whom never left the area, even through all the in-between centuries when the rest of them were scattered around the globe. They've draines swamps, recultivated desert land, and have been planting trees since their re-establishment. They even left Gaza completely a while back, as the world demanded (and which I strongly disagreed with) -- and look how they were thanked in response: more rocket attacks than ever. Their enemies simply laughed, moved their launchers right up to the border this time, and kept on pounding away without missing a beat. But of course that's still not enough for the likes of Hamas, or Jewish critics the world over. They want Israel WIPED OUT, just like Ahmadinejab has threatened...and I've no doubt they're secretly (if not openly) hoping Iran does it. Interestingly enough, Iran was given its name (replacing 'Persia') by its WW2 ally, Germany. Iran means 'Aryan.' Sorry...I don't side with Iran, here. I side with Israel. 'Am Israel 'Chai!

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IrishAndProud | Feb 09, 2010, 09:56 PM EST

Further, Sean...'Warsaw ghetto?' Where in the name of all that is reasonable do you come off comparing Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto of WW2? You're spewing all the formula, anti-Jewish left-wing talking points as fast as you can list them. And you accused ME of not knowing history? This is BASIC stuff, Sean. The Arabs were not herded into Gaza with capo's, just because they were Arabs, with the intent of exterminating them, later...as the Jews in the WG were. The Arabs FLED there upon Israel's re-establishment, and their populace has since increased massively, causing overcrowding. Then their militants shoot at Israel from Gaza, then hide behind their own women and children to ensure THEY get hit by the Israeli response, so guys like you end up with yet another sob story about how the 'evil' Israelis deliberately attack women and children (like the terrorists indeed do, with Jewish kids). And you suck the stuff right up, just like they planned that you would. Were you even aware that Israel is fully 10% Arab? I would think that if Israel wanted to 'ethnically cleanse' itself of Arabs (as the Nazis were doing with the Warsaw Ghetto, as as you insinuate with Gaza) that they would have just slightly done so, by now. Face it, Sean...that is not the reason for Gaza being as it is. The Arabs themselves -- who already have about 99% of the land in the middle east, as it's known -- are to blame here, and all of their countries between them could EASILY accomodate the Arabs of Gaza, and/or alleviate their plight.

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