Brazil music legend Gilberto Gil cancels Tel Aviv gig

Palestinian boycott activists have welcomed a decision by Brazilian music legend Gilberto Gil to cancel a performance in Tel Aviv originally scheduled for 4 July.

The move comes in the aftermath of Israeli soldiers’ massacre of Palestinian demonstrators in the occupied Gaza Strip.

Hind Awwad for the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), a key member of the Palestinian BDS National Committee, commented: “We warmly welcome Gilberto Gil’s cancellation of his concert in Tel Aviv, the centre of Israel’s regime of occupation and apartheid.

“We thank Gil’s fans in Brazil and across Latin America whose outrage over Israel’s latest massacre in Gaza and support for Palestinian human rights seem to have played a decisive role in his decision.”

READ: Calls for Lorde’s show to be cancelled over support for BDS

Awwad added that “by cancelling this show, Gil is in the good company of many world-renowned artists who have refused to art-wash Israel’s regime of oppression, including Lorde, Lauryn Hill, Elvis Costello, Brian Eno, the late Gil Scott-Heron, Faithless, Roger Waters, among many others.”

“We sincerely hope that Gil will never perform in Israel until Palestinians enjoy freedom, justice, and equality,0”, the statement concluded.

Hundreds of artists called for a boycott of Israel yesterday, including Wolf Alice, Shame, Portishead, Circa Waves and Carl Barat, following the Israeli army’s lethal crackdown on protests.

On Saturday, Portuguese director and playwright Tiago Rodrigues announced he was pulling out of next month’s Israel Festival, and endorsed the BDS campaign. Last month, American actor Natalie Portman cancelled her participation in the Genesis Prize Foundation ceremony in Israel.