Silencing music: the dangerous rise of anti-Israel boycotts in the arts

Last year the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, one of the world’s leading concert organisations, cancelled two Jerusalem String Quartet performances after pro-Palestinian protestors credibly threatened disorder and violence (the evidence was the chaos wrought at the University of Amsterdam). Only the previous week the same quartet had performed a programme of Haydn, Paul Ben-Haim, and Debussy at Wigmore Hall without incident. Wigmore Hall’s director told me that he could easily have advised the Concertgebouw on how to achieve the same smooth results, had he been asked.

Sadly the Concertgebouw management did not seek advice, despite claiming to the contrary, and cancelled unilaterally after the quartet refused to withdraw of their own accord. The decision was overturned after our petition calling for reinstatement of the concerts gathered 13,000 signatures in only three days and fuelled worldwide media coverage. The Concertgebouw’s misguided cancellation was ostensibly justified by the security needs of the audience and the hall’s staff. Granted, these needs should be considered, but capitulating to a bullying mob threatening violence and property damage sets a dangerous precedent.

It was thus a shock to us when, last week, the Ghent Festival of Flanders cancelled the forthcoming concert of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra under conductor Lahav Shani (Munich’s Chief Conductor designate, and also Chief Conductor of the Israel Philharmonic), stating “we have chosen to maintain the serenity of our festival and safeguard the concert experience for our visitors and musicians”.

The festival further ‘justified’ its cancellation by saying that, although Shani had ‘spoken out in favour of peace and reconciliation several times in the past…in thelight of his role as the chief conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, we are unable to provide sufficient clarity about his attitude to the genocidal regime in Tel Aviv.”

These words are deeply troubling, and not only because the word ‘genocide’ is highly contentious. Worryingly, the Festival made it clear that Lahav Shani’s views in favour of peace and reconciliation were of no interest to them. They seemed more concerned, rather, with enshrining their own opinion of Israel as the standard to which Lahav Shani should adhere. And why should he have to? Simple – because he is Israeli. If he were not, the festival would not be interrogating his stance on the conflict in Gaza. This is discriminatory.

Once news broke, another petition seemed absolutely necessary. I co-authored a letter with Mahan Esfahani, conductor Joshua Weilerstein, and the Jerusalem Quartet’s cellist, Kyril Zlotnikov late that night. Supported by over 16,000 signatories to date, our letter called on the Ghent Festival to reverse their decision with immediate effect, and return to upholding the values of dialogue and openness that are the bedrock of artistic life.

Such a morally bankrupt cancellation would do nothing to save a single Palestinian life, bring a hostage home, or to make any improvement to the unbearable civilian suffering currently taking place in this conflict, but would resonate loudly with those who equate an artist’s nationality with an excuse to exclude them from the cultural sphere.

We are still awaiting a response. In the meantime, many politicians including the Prime Minister of Belgium Bart de Wever have expressed support for Lahav Shani, and the Berlin Music Festival scheduled a special concert for the Munich Philharmonic and soloist Lisa Batiashvili at the Konzerthaus at short notice. These actions should be cheered.

Danny Driver is a Jewish London-based concert pianist who performs internationally and teaches at the Royal College of Music