Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted as Thom Yorke gives the finger

Last Friday, Radiohead performed for the last time before their trip to Tel Aviv, and some of the audience members were loudly insisting they not come to Israel. The tension among the band members was apparent.

Last Friday Radiohead were praised for their performance at the 'Transmit' Festival in Scotland–the band's last performance before coming to HaYarkon Park to perform for thousands of Israelis. Israelis, however, will probably be interested in something other than the gig in Glasgow.

During the performance, pro-Palestinian demonstrators waved banners and flags and shouted at the band in an outrage against their upcoming visit to Israel on July 19th. The band's leader, Thom Yorke, and the band members tried to continue playing as usual, but the tension was evident and Yorke was even heard saying, "some fucking people," which may show how close the subject is to his heart. Later, he even gave the finger to the protesters. 

Last month, Yorke responded at length to claims of the BDS movement in an interview with 'Rolling Stone' Magazine, saying, "I'll be totally honest with you: this has been extremely upsetting. There's an awful lot of people who don't agree with the BDS movement, including us. I don't agree with the cultural ban at all, along with J.K. Rowling, Noam Chomsky, and a long list of others. There are people I admire [who have been critical of the concert] like [English film director] Ken Loach, who I would never dream of telling where to work or what to do or think."

 

Yorke continues, "The kind of dialogue that they want to engage in is one that is black or white. I have a problem with that. It's deeply distressing that they choose to, rather than engage with us personally, throw shit at us in public. It's deeply disrespectful to assume that we're either being misinformed or that we're so retarded we can't make these decisions ourselves. I thought it was patronizing in the extreme."

Yorke noted that the band's guitarist Johnny Greenwood "has both Palestinian and Israeli friends and a wife who's an Arab Jew. All these people to stand there at a distance throwing stuff at us, waving flags, saying, 'You don’t know anything about it!' Imagine how offensive that is for Jonny. And imagine how upsetting it's been to have this out there. To assume that we know nothing about this. To throw the word 'apartheid' around and think that's enough. It's fucking weird. It's such an extraordinary waste of energy. Energy that could be used in a more positive way."

He finishes, "This is the first time I've said anything about it. Part of me wants to say nothing because anything I say cooks up a fire from embers. But at the same time, if you want me to be honest, yeah, it's really upsetting that artists I respect think we are not capable of making a moral decision ourselves after all these years. They talk down to us and I just find it mind-boggling that they think they have the right to do that. It's extraordinary. So, thanks, Roger [Waters]. I mean, we're best mates for life, but it’s like, fuck me, really?"

Apart from this incident, Israeli fans will also be happy to see the list of songs played last Friday, at 'Transmit' Festival in Scotland:

'Let Down'

'Lucky'

'Ful Stop'

'15 Step'

'Myxomatosis'

'There There'

'All I Need'

'Pyramid Song'

'Everything In Its Right Place'

'Reckoner'

'Bloom'

'Identikit'

'Weird Fishes / Arpeggi'

'Idioteque'

'The Numbers'

'Bodysnatchers'

'2 + 2 = 5'

'Daydreaming'

'No Surprises'

'Lotus Flower'

'Paranoid Android'

'Fake Plastic Trees'

'Nude'

'The Bends'

'Karma Police'