After Declaring Support to Israel, Placebo Band in Beirut!

ALmanar

09/06/2010 Once again, pro-Israeli figures seek to penetrate into the Lebanese scene through… arts!

On Wednesday, British rock band Placebo is set to perform at the Forum de Beirut amid calls for "boycotting" the "event" which comes days after a gig in the occupied territories where lead artists Brian Molko announced his "endorsement" of the Israeli enemy in an interview.

Speaking with an Israeli journalist, Molko was proud to say that all what he's doing in "Israel" was eating Hommos before lauding Israel's "fantanstic" climate.

His comments were made last Saturday, right after the Israeli atrocious crime against the Freedom Flotilla, which left nine people martyred.

The interviewer sought to make fun with him, saying: "It's important to have Israel's endorsement these days." The singer immediately responded: "I think so… especially if you want to go sailing."

And here you go. Molko and his friends visit the Lebanese capital, where they would perform… despite everything!

YOU'RE NOT WELCOME IN LEBANON!

"You are not welcome in Lebanon," Lebanese writer and editor Samah Idriss said at a news conference jointly held by five non-governmental organizations on the eve of the concert in Beirut.

"The band must choose either to play in Lebanon or to play in a state that continuously violates rights," Idriss said on behalf of the groups, which include the Campaign to Boycott Israeli Supporters in Lebanon and the Campaign for the Lebanese Boycott of Zionism.

Idriss said activists from the five groups would not resort to violence but demanded Molko apologize and urged concert-goers in Lebanon to boycott the gig.

The call comes just days after US alternative rock group The Pixies cancelled their first-ever gig in the occupied territories and two British bands pulled out of the same five-day music festival in Tel Aviv in a move believed to be linked to the aid flotilla massacre.

Yet, the organizers don't hesitate to "defend" the move. The concert organizer and radio mogul Jihad al-Murr pointed out that most bands performing in Lebanon had also performed in the occupied territories. "Placebo has entered Lebanese territory legally and with the knowledge and consent of General Security," Murr told AFP. "This is music, a concert, and has nothing to do with politics," he claimed. "Shall we boycott every minister, official or artist that has ever visited Israel? That's ridiculous."

Finally, a question has to be asked about the role to be assumed by the ministries of Culture and Tourism in inspecting such suspicious invitations, especially that the same scenario is repeating itself with every touristic season.


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