if you go to america does that mean you support american foreign and domestic policy? does a visit to america mean that you support guantanamo?Moby played in Tel Aviv yesterday.
if you visit italy does that mean you support berlusconi?
if you visit the uk does that mean you're a happy supporter of david cameron?
i'm guessing the answer is: no.
a visit to a country isn't a condemnation or an endorsement of the domestic or foreign policies of that nations current government.
when i tour i visit countries that are universally loved (canada), as well as countries for which people have more complicated feelings (israel).
but when i tour i'm going to countries to play music for people.
my presence in a country is not an endorsement or a condemnation of that countries policies.
my presence in a country is an effort to connect with people through playing music.
almost every country on the planet has some aspect of their foreign or domestic policy that is questionable(i mean, i live in the united states, and many aspects of our foreign and domestic policy are seriously questionable...but yet i continue to live there and do what i can to effect positive change).
i have opinions about the policies of the countries i visit, of course, but i think its incredibly dangerous to form opinions of a place without actually spending time there.
the situation within a country is oftentimes considerably more complicated when experienced from within rather than when seen from thousands of miles away or through the sensationalistic and often simplifying and reductionist lens of the media.
i'm sorry if my decisions to visit certain countries are troubling to some people.
And from Richard Millett's blog:
Take That are currently touring the UK and during a recent concert at Wembley national treasure Robbie Williams approached a group of screaming teenage girls who were sporting cheesy Israeli head-wear and took away one of their Israeli flags, promptly kissed it and then took it on to the stage with him (see clip below).
You could call it sticking two fingers (or even one finger, if you wish) up at the vicious anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which desires to kill off the Jewish state for good.
If you listen carefully, you can hear BDSers heads exploding.
(h/t Israel Muse)