22/02/2025
I haven't written and posted anything on this issue for two reasons: 1. the topic is deeply upsetting and for the sake of my mental health and stress levels, I try to avoid that where possible on the page, and 2. a number of others such as Moral Decay and of course, Reservoir Droogs have pretty much summed up my position on it. My Droog has essentially said my piece on the matter below better than I ever could.
I don't know Los Fastidios - officialpage as a band and know little about their past or politics. What I do know is, apologists for Israel's actions on the Gaza Strip can f**k off. There is nothing more anti-semitic than weaponising Judaism as an instrument of genocide. True, the Torah states that any man who kills another should himself be put to death, but it expressly prohibits the killing of others beyond that, including gentiles. Meaning that every Palestinian death beyond those terrorists who attacked and murdered Israelis on 7th October 2023 is an act of pure evil and a humanitarian crime, according to the Torah itself. Make no mistake, Hamas are brutal, evil f**kheads as well. This is not even a question. No human being that kills another is worthy of the descriptor "human."
Politicians always do this s**t. Fan the flames of division and distract us from the social violence those craven, greedy f**kers commit against all people, everywhere, daily. Netanyahu is a grotesque excuse for a human being who was only removed from office in 2021 due to corruption. How he was able to run again a year later, I don't know, but the fact he was re-elected is baffling, and the fact the first act of his current premiership was to attempt to reform Israel's justice system to curtail its ability to check his power going forward says everything you need to know about the guy. He's a coward and - at least since 2022 - a mass-murderer. He's on trial CURRENTLY, by the way. On charges of bribery and fraud. How convenient that he has his "war" to distract the Israeli people from that, eh? Fu***ng sick bastard.
Sending Israelis a strong message denouncing their government's actions is vitally important, and artists of all people are especially burdened with the responsibility. In the words of Ernst Fischer, “In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful, must also reflect decay. And unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it.”
There needs to be an end to all this fu***ng bloodshed. You don't get to be wishy-washy about this. Israel's actions in Gaza are disproportionately barbarous, to put it mildly.
We all just need to stop fu***ng around and tell fascism to get f**ked permanently.
With anti-fascist groups currently pressing for a boycott of the current UK tour by Italian band Los Fastidios it has been interesting to see the reaction from some quarters.
Before addressing this it may be handy to draw attention to what a cultural boycott is as some people are apparently struggling with the concept.
To keep it simple.
A cultural boycott is when there is an organised refusal to contribute to, or participate in, any cultural activities within a country to not only show disapproval of their actions, but to also pressure them into adddressing perceived issues.
Usually these issues will relate to human rights abuses.
As an example of this in action we need only look to South Africa and how it contributed to ending apartheid.
It's not really a difficult concept to grasp.
And now to Los Fastidios.
Currently there is a cultural boycott of Israel and therein lies the problem as they have performed there.
The boycott was first called for in 2003 and more information can be found here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boycotts_of_Israel
The band Los Fastidios have however claimed that they had a dispensation to play, but clear proof of this has not really been forthcoming.
Neither has there's been a robust condemnation of the ongoing issues in the region or a commitment to not returning to perform in Israel until the boycott is lifted.
If unequivocal proof of a dispensation had been furnished to their detractors, and they had committed publicly to suppporting the cultural boycott, then that would have cleared the way to their tour going ahead with little pushback, but without any of that happening those advocating that their tour is boycotted have drawn a great deal of support.
Which isn't surprising.
On a personal note I would like to make it clear that I couldn't commit to claiming that the band are cosplaying at being antifascist.
I have no proof one way or the other.
They may well be pandering to some disingenuous sliding scale of opposition that is prevalent in certain European countries.
More likely is that it is possible that they have simply done what so many other bands do.
Which is turn a blind eye to anything that gets in the way of playing.
In my experience the majority of people in bands will shake hands with the devil on a promise that is rarely delivered on. It's why they are never once bitten and twice shy. An offer of a gig in Israel with an entertainment hungry crowd lined up to treat them like conquering heroes was probably a big enough carrot dangled for them to sweep any moral considerations under the carpet and pretend that they don't see the lump there.
Unfortunately, for them, it doesn’t really matter why they played as the fact remains that they did.
And now it has come back to bite them.
Gigs have been pulled in both England and Scotland, bands lined up to open for them have stepped away and accusations of antisemitism have been made against people who are obviously just anti-genocide.
It's a mess, but one of their own doing.
There is more information here about the history of culturally boycotts. Educate yourself and then make an informed choice about what side of history that you want to be on.
https://www.aamarchives.org/archive/campaigns/cultural-boycott.html
