photo: flomotions.com
Despite it’s humble dimensions, Israel is both a major consumer and a significant exporter of culture.
Only in these last few months Tel Aviv was honored by great visitors such as Madonna, Guns N Roses, Chris Cornell and Morrissey who rocked the stages; RHCP and the Prodigy are yet to come later this summer.
Alongside the “big names”, international indie artists perform in Israel every month, one of which is the Brian Jonestown Massacre band who played in Tel Aviv last week. In an interview given before the show, singer Anton Newcombe explained that he was adressed by BDS activists who urged him to cancel the gig and boycott Israel, a request he briefly reffered to as “bullshit”.
The concert was covered positively by fans and critiques, a fact with which the BDS crowd just can’t accept.
The one and only infamous Tali Shapiro applied her usual methods of lies and harassment of which I’ve written in the past.
Frustrated with Newcomb’s attitude and refusal to give in, Shapiro posted on her blog on July 19th, a post in which she once again personally harassing Anton and DEMANDS that he reads her materials, change his mind and express regret and understanding that performing in Israel is in fact an “apartheid supporting” deed. On this I shall use Anton’s own words- Bullshit.
The following Saturday, a person claiming to be a Joneston Massacre fan contacted The band’s leader on Twitter and linked to Shapiro’s post. This started a chain reaction of public harassment, which you can read over at Shapiro’s Twitter Account, and lasted for three days and countless tweets.
The fact that Anton ignored the ever repeating requests to boycott Israel, ignored her repeating tweets to him on the subject, ignored her Facebook mentions and blog post all didn’t matter to Shapiro. It didn’t stop her from using her regular method of addressing an artist as a “politically aware fan”, and then call all of her web-bully friends to flood his twitter feed again and again and again.
This discussion was doomed to escalate. Anton wrote repeatedly that he is being harassed by Shapiro and the others, asked them to stop mentioning him and eventually blocked her account – And still, the BDS crowd just wouldn’t let go.
Anton Newcomb is not the only artist who’s being spammed and bugged by the BDS network of activists. They are targeting musicians and performers in general, they systematically follow upcoming concerts in Israel, and then nag them before (and AFTER…) with Facebook pages, online petitions and twitter accounts calling them to cancel their gigs- through harassing, obsessive Spam campaigns.
Check out their Facebook page “TAG an artist Against Apartheid”‘ which I think should have been called: “Tag an artists and mention and message and spam him till he wants to shoot himself”.
I want to dedicate this post to brave and patient Mr. Newcombe. I don’t know him personally but I do know that if it was me being harassed like that (AFTER the goddamn show!), I’d go for massive user reports…
BDS gone bad 
Wow you’re so right. BDS has turned into an obsessive group of people who try to achieve their goals by harassment and spam.
Ha, go on and glorify Anton, who characterizes Gaza in a racist manner and then curses people.
You’ve met your partner!
Ofer N, where is the racist comment? Like Shapiro you make stuff up and deserve to be cursed. BDS is like a cult. You obsess, more stories like this one will come to light. I always had a hunch about your methods and was proven right. BDS hounds people, simply because they go about their daily bread. The idea that Israel is nothing outside the bds frame work is laughable. If all people obsessed about particular policy points they’d be global civil war.
Who is this organized mob that rapes the idea of free speech through the Internet in order to intimidate people who want to go on a plane and connect with other people?
I know it might be called “unprofessional” but- You Rock! 🙂
Ofer, as one of the comments here said, there were hundreds of tweets, yet funny you call him a racist without even being able to paste one tweet to back up your absurd claim. After all your criticism of habara being propaganda, funny how your comment here is cheap propaganda trying to demonize Anton.
This blog is bullshit. If you had the capacity to comprehend political campaigning you’d understand that relating the facts of a situation, the war crimes, the breaches of international law, the oppression is how it works. The information is laid out for the artist, appeals to their consciences are made and the decision is then theirs, to play for apartheid or to stand for justice.
As some artists like Macy Gray have regretted playing in apartheid Israel, principled people like Tali Shapiro continue to try to communicate with artists after their performances (as well as before) in the hope that they will see that they played for a racist, apartheid state.
You do know that’s how campaigning works don’t you? That’s what happened in the boycott campaign against apartheid South Africa, and like that regime had its apologists, so does Israel. And like that apartheid fell, so will Israel’s apartheid.
You just don’t like free speech, the hasbara crew don’t, that’s why you pick on individuals and try to bully them, that’s why you personalise things. It’s stated zionist policy.
Methinks you picked on the wrong person here, Tali Shapiro has guts and integrity you couldn’t even dream of.
PS I suggest you invest in a dictionary and then spend some time looking up the vocabulary you use, it might eventually lead to you making sense.
You know what, I agree, this is Bullshit- why the hell you leave your comments here then?
I have learned long ago there’s no talking to you anyway, Once you stop using that ridiculous word- “Apartheid”, you’re welcome to come back and have a discussion.
Sorry, I’m not even right wing but when you use such an absurd term it means you know shit.
Zaza, Im sure you find the political F***ed up, so I’d think you and fellow BDS’ers wouldn’t go down the same dirty path.
Calling this attack on Anton (and fellow artists) “the information is laid out for the artist, appeals to their consciences are made and the decision is then theirs” is simply a lie. BDS has lately started using shameful tactics of harassing and spamming. TAG an Artist (Tali’s page) is nothing more than a spamming tool used to flood the artists with political posts using the social media, hoping that the amount of posts will deter them from playing in Israel, not based on the decision being right/wrong, but rather, the damage it could do to them if they play here (non-stop harassment even after they play, fans boycotting them- although the posts are being made over and over by the same people- who aren’t even their fans, etc). If the goal was simply to lay out the information and inform them of the call, and to let them make a decision, there’s no point to a page like TAG and the amount of posts people like you initiate, a simple letter and email is enough.
Don’t try to legitimate your methods with the SA example. 1. Most prominent scholars and experts, including Noam Chomsky has stated that the argument that the cultural boycott on SA is what caused the fall of the apartheid system there is simply wrong, and it happened only after the US publicly condemned the country and backed its political support. 2. The 2 situations are completely different, and besides, in the SA example, artists weren’t being harassed like what you guys are doing today using the social media. They made their decision because they agreed with the boycott and decided that SA is a real apartheid state.
“You just don’t like free speech, the hasbara crew don’t, that’s why you pick on individuals and try to bully them, that’s why you personalise things. It’s stated zionist policy.”
What do you of the writer of this blog and categorize here as part of the “hasbara crew”? How would you feel if I categorized you in the “propaganda crew” based on Ofer’s previous lie (see his comment above), or part of the “racist crew” based on anti-semites likes Gilad Atzmon (even Ali Abunimah called him an anti-semite). And where’d you get that “zionist policy” BS? I haven’t seen any personal attacks against any BDS’ers made by the state of Israel or organizations supporting Israel. When have people like Ronnie Barkan, Ofer Neiman, etc been personally attacked?
PS, attacked her vocab level is a shameful tactic used when you just can’t being her logical arguments. She lives in Israel, not Ireland, her mother tongue isn’t English like yours.
ZazaFL
Quite a lot of both Fatah’s and Hamas’s practices described here:
the facts of a situation, the war crimes, the breaches of international law, the oppression is how it works
Lord Sacks has traced the kind of Jew-hatred exhibited by the liars who project the faults of terrorists on to Israel:
… an assault on Jewish life always needs justification by the highest source of authority in the culture at any given age. Throughout the Middle Ages the highest authority in Europe was the Church. Hence anti-Semitism took the form of Christian anti-Judaism.
In the post-enlightenment Europe of the 19th century the highest authority was no longer the Church. Instead it was science. Thus was born racial anti-Semitism, based on two disciplines regarded as science in their day: the “scientific study of race” and the Social Darwinism of Herbert Spencer and Ernst Haeckel. Today we know that both of these were pseudo-sciences, but in their day they were endorsed by some of the leading figures of the age.
Since Hiroshima and the Holocaust, science no longer holds its pristine place as the highest moral authority. Instead, that role is taken by human rights. It follows that any assault on Jewish life — on Jews or Judaism or the Jewish state — must be cast in the language of human rights. Hence the by-now routine accusation that Israel has committed the five cardinal sins against human rights: racism, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, attempted genocide and crimes against humanity. This is not because the people making these accusations seriously believe them — some do, some don’t. It is because this is the only form in which an assault on Jews can be stated today.
So. The hirelings in Jew-hatred can spout and fume and show their ignorance of what apartheid is. They have nothing to say on the Palestinian intent to be judenrein like Jordan – if they ever achieve a state. And not for nothing is the Nazi term appropriate. Nazi gold stolen from Jews was financing the Nazi mufti of Jerusalem and his terrorists in the 1930s even before he was recruiting Bosnians to the Waffen SS.
The hirelings get top marks for hatred and lying propaganda and lack of knowledge. Lord Sacks says what they are in 3 paragraphs. Plain, ignorant antisemites.
Even if not paid like the “peaceful” rioters of Bil’in the Jew-haters certainly have rented out the space between their ears to evil-sayers if not evil-doers. I suppose that some of them could try thinking – or growing up.
Wow. So much conjecture. Where do I start? I can address the apartheid claim, but since that’s really the Arab plan to shift attention from their discrimination against Jews and Christians, why bother. After all, everyone has seen the highway sign that forbids non-Muslims from entering Mecca and Medina.
I think I’ll skip right to the line “It’s stated zionist policy.” Really? Can you tell me where that is a stated policy? Can you cite that policy number and where is was ratified and by who? What organization is the official voice for all Zionists? Who is the President of all ZIonists and tells Zionists what to say and think? After all, that appears to be the basis for your other claims.
The fact is, you are essentially claiming a vast Zionist conspiracy. Did you get that from “The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion?” Since it was translated into Arabic, That fraud book has been a number one seller in Arab nations and among Muslims world wide. You must have got it from that fraudulent anti-Semitic screed since that’s the only place where Zionists all agree on one “policy”, as you call it.
If you want a better conspiracy to advocate, try the Roswell UFO story.
Fred Taub
Author, Boycotting Peace
http://www.BoycottingPeace.com
http://www.BoycottWatch.com
The sad part of these bigot comments made here by BDS’ers like Zoe Lawlor, is that the people making them are spreading their bigotry to their students and other people influenced by them based on an unfair student-teacher relationship. Now I know why so many in Ireland only see one side of the situation and judge Israel with double-standards, and Zoe’s a perfect example of that- a teacher in Department of Languages & Cultural Studies in the University of Limerick who brainwashes her students, who don’t have the tools to disagree and criticize her Cultural Studies teacher who is “an expert” in her field.
When did Macy Gray regret playing in Israel? After you mobbed and brainwashed her for months and failed to present a balanced opinion?
Interesting it seems deliberate that you have only put some of the tweets on there, I watched that debate, who ever wrote this article has left out a lot. If Anton wasn’t interested he could have easily blocked them, but he played into the politics for his own exposure, like your online publication is playing into this debate for your exposure & cause.
Playing the victim when a simple click can stop someone sending messages to you, by blocking or ignoring, is kinda stupid. If you’re going into a country which is a hot bed of conflict you have to expect some backlash, it just matters how you handle it.
It is clear you’ve manufactured this tweet communication for your own propaganda, be honest and put the whole twitter debate on there, you owe that to the public and readers.
Why isn’t the part of the debate where Anton recontacts Tali & Tali posts something about asking Anton to end communication with them?
This is a very inaccurate article, after reading this, there is no way I’ll be reading your propaganda shit rag again.
Do you HONESTLY expect me to print screen and publish the WHOLE thing?? there must have been hundreds of tweets over there. I linked both of their Twitter accounts and one can go in and read.
And as long as we’re being petty;
Did you notice the fact that I Dropped Tali’s Tweets Saying “Why Do we even need Israel for” or the one in which she ‘wished she didn’t have a mother’?
Is shooting your own leg Fun?
Tali did not say she wished she did not have a mother, Anton said she wanted to kill all jews, Tali turned around & said if she did, she’d be killing her own mother because her mother is jewish. You twist it to suit your needs. Hype it how you want, misuse it’s context but it is clear you’re just posting some tweets to suit your needs. If slander is all you got, then this ain’t newsworthy.
If you watched the “debate” (Id call it harassment), feel free to post whatever tweet you want that support your counter-argument to his blog entry. That’s what comments are for.
It’s not a simple click, dozens of people tweeted to him, and a lot has been happening behind the shades as well. He tweeted that he was personally attacked after a show (or something along those lines, I dont remember exactly what he wrote). Im sure BDS’ers also write them mails, call them, do everything possible to harass artists like Anton
And besides, this blog isn’t the only place where only certain tweets are being showed. Tali herself has published only specific tweets written by Anton, trying to belittle him.
Anton could’ve blocked or ignored the BDS people. Anton attacks the beatles, infact has a campaign against them and Yoko Ono! he uses her face in pictures with a pentagram, does she say he is bullying her? He attacked Mick Jagger for Brian Jones death! I’m not supporting either of these bands, not my thing but Anton is no victim, he is intelligent and nows how to use any exposure! I guess you know how to use him to for your campaign.
ZaZaFL: you’re truly an unintentional parody of the anti-Zionist movement. you speak in cliches, and make claims that are simply risible, like this:
“You just don’t like free speech, the hasbara crew don’t, that’s why you pick on individuals and try to bully them, that’s why you personalise things. It’s stated zionist policy.”
Hmmm…stated Zionist policy to pick on and bully people? I guess I personally didn’t get that message from Zionist Central. I guess my Zionist Receiver wasn’t working that day.
Do me a favor. Go to the site, Freedom House. Then get back to me and let me know which country in the Middle East is the only one with the designation of “Free”. Hint, it’s not the Palestinian Authority.
Such hysteria zios, wow.
Two things: it is policy to personalise attacks against BDS activists, this is just one example. “Israeli Deputy Ambassador/Culture Officer in Dublin advocates intimidation and smearing human rights activists; suggests humiliating them by associating them with Mossad and ‘sexual identity problems’”
http://www.ipsc.ie/press-releases/israeli-deputy-ambassadorculture-officer-in-dublin-advocates-intimidation-and-smearing-human-rights-activists-suggests-humiliating-them-by-associating-them-with-mossad-and-sexual-identity-p
Freedom House, hilarious.
I haven’t attacked anyone’s vocabulary on a language level, but if you blog about “bully, disturb, spam”, you should actually know what they mean.
Zaza,
I wonder who is personalizing the bds debate when the bds mob bombards individuals with electronic media and hounds them outside their venues? I think the bds method of the Mao style personal shaming in public takes the biscuit. And then you quote from some Pal propaganda outfit ? Up is down and right is left…..
It was her personal suggestion that was immediately rejected by Israel’s Foreign Ministry so calling that “Israel’s official policy” is nonsense. If you were right, we’d see plenty of personal attacks against prominent anti-Israel activists, yet I never heard of any such attacks…
hear a good festiival for you see this singr michael kiwanuka the afghan whigs , Black Keys _ http://yt-festivals2.appspot.com/page/row/en-us/home?lang=he&gl=IL&hl=iw
? you know , GO to Hell Tali you AND organism
I watched Tali Shapiro and ZaZaFL and others bully, spam and threaten the Red Hot Chili Peppers on twitter for months…these were shameful and disgusting messages filled with lies and threats to destroy the bands credibility. Thankfully the Chili Peppers were much too smart and classy to buy into this bullying or even respond to their nonsense. Truly the way to stop the playground bully is to not respond.