It’s a refreshing take from an artist with 3.2 million monthly Spotify listeners, and comes less than a week after Icelandic singer Björk joined 400 musicians in the “No Music For Genocide” campaign, geo-blocking her catalogue from Israeli streaming services.
She says she is also hoping to learn more about Israel on her visit to the Jewish State (Image: Azealia Banks)[Missing Credit]
If artists are serious about this kind of action, Banks suggests, there are many more countries they should be targeting, and it would begin a never-ending cycle.
"Once you start trying to ban Russians or ban Israelis from listening to music, then there are so many people that need to be banned from music. I can't be that person because, honestly, the argument just wouldn't stand up.
“The entertainment industry should be the one industry that's left out of all of the sanctions and blockings. That's just what I believe.”
Despite her ardent belief in putting art above politics, Banks has repeatedly come up against the consequences of supporting the Jewish state. This summer, she cancelled two performances at UK festivals because, she claimed, the promoters “forced” her to say “free Palestine” and she has lost friendships and industry connections.
“But were any of those people actually my friends to begin with?,” she opines. “I lost a lot of baggage and bull**** and potential fake s***.”
Wryly, she adds that some of those people, including makeup artists and collaborators, are now coming back to work with her.
Growing up in Harlem, New York City, Banks’ interest in Israel was sparked during her school days. “You would read things and they'd say: ‘Israel is the land where Jews, Christians and Muslims walked freely.’ That's what they taught me in Catholic school.”
Those lessons felt unexpectedly relevant this summer, as the row over Israel in the music industry reached a crescendo.
At Coachella, Irish rap trio Kneecap projected a giant “f*** Israel” slogan onto their set, while punk duo Bob Vylan led Glastonbury crowds in chanting “death to the IDF”. Banks, who has played both of those festivals, recalled: “A lot of my teaching from Catholic school about Israel was dredged up.”
That prompted her to delve into the history of Zionism. “And when I unpacked it,” she explained, “I actually really liked it – I think it is f***ing epic and phenomenal”.
“Within Zionism, you have this framework about Israel, Israelis and the Jewish people. That's it. That's so simple and so to the point. It is compact and succinct, and it gets the job done.”
“When you have to go on trial for your humanity and fight for respect, there are always all of these little f***ing things that come to your mind that try to unravel your self-esteem and your spirit.
“I love how Zionism is going to say: ‘No motherf******, this is it. We’re going to Israel – Israelis and the Jews – and that’s it.’ Zionism is so smart.”
Banks’ support for Israel is also bound up with memories of 9/11. A child in Manhattan when the Twin Towers fell, with her babysitter among the dead, the attack was a confrontation with Islamist terror that she has never forgotten. “All of these things came back into my mind, and I was just like, no, I don’t want this.”
Banks is critical of cultural boycotts (Image: Azealia Banks)[Missing Credit]
And another reason Zionism appeals to her is that it “is not trying to save the world”. “I don’t mean to sound like Golda Meir or Ayn Rand, but you cannot pour from an empty cup.”
Banks argues that, unlike other nations claiming to champion foreign causes, Zionism is focused on a singular mission and avoids projecting global moral authority.
"All of these other nations that are trying to pretend like they care for everyone else. You know, Turkey, they're like, ‘Oh, we care about the Palestinians’, but what about what y'all doing to the Kurds?"
This concern, she adds, is performative in her opinion: “I see lots of money in the world, I see these very rich Arab, Islamic countries, and I see Egypt and this big community of Muslims and Arabs that can, at any time, help the Palestinians, whether it's to help them get their government in order or to help them with their municipalities.
“For all of the ire coming from that world towards Israel, it seems like they're a lot more obsessed with hating Israel than they are with actually helping these people.”
But Banks’ support for Israel does not mean she has no sympathy for the Palestinians – far from it. “I really do feel for them because I feel like they’re being played as a pawn”.
The Hamas terrorists who launched the attacks on October 7 “don't give a f*** about the safety or the livelihoods of their women or children,” she goes on. “Only a stupid man would start a fight with a heavily armed country from a little patch of land and not think that his women and children would not be harmed.”
This week will mark Banks’ second trip to Israel. On her first visit, she spoke about her perception of racism in the country, as well as the “flak” she received from the music industry.
Now, though, she says she is returning “from a place of strength and a place of just really fully f***ing understanding what Israel means and the significance of Israel”.
Arriving just a few days before the two-year anniversary of October 7, Banks will visit the site of the Nova massacre, and will also go to Jerusalem, Yad Vashem and the Dead Sea.
Ronn Torossian, an Israeli-American affiliated with the Jabotinsky Institute, told the JC that he will take Banks to the centre dedicated to the organisation’s eponymous patron, whose writings previously had a “deep impact” on her.
