Over the years, Radiohead’s position on Israel has been controversial. The group has continued to play in this country when some artists and fans asked them not to do so and Gaza genocide has only aggravated the bad feeling. In addition, Jonny Greenwood is married to an Israeli, works with Israeli musicians and is usual to act in Tel Aviv.
Jonny Greenwood tried to explain last year who worked with Arab artists too, and now it has been Thom Yorke who has decided to go to Instagram to explain his position, to prevent others from explaining his opinion for him, “filling blank holes.”
Thom Yorke begins by remembering an incident that occurred last year: “Someone shouting from the dark when I was going to sing the last song, completely alone, in front of 9,000 people in Melbourne, it did not seem the best time to discuss the current humanitarian catastrophe of Gaza.”
Yorke says that it has cost him time to find a way to respond properly, and that many have associated their “silence” to “complicity”, which has derived “mental health problems.”
In the first place, he says that his music with his band or alone speaks for himself about his opinion: «I hope someone who has heard a note of my band’s music or anything that I have created over the years, the designs have been looked at or read the lyrics, realize that it is evident that it could not in any way support any form of extremism or dehumanization of other people (…) I have tried coerced, threatened, intimidated or made suffer ».
For those who do not know their music, proceed to explain: «I think Netanyahu and his team of extremists are totally out of control and it is necessary to stop them. The international community should put all the pressure in which they stop. His own defense excuse has long been replaced and has been replaced by a transparent desire to take control of Gaza and the West Bank ».
Yorke charges against his “ultra -nationalist” administration for having “used the terror and pain of the population to silence any type of criticism.” He also recalls that “thousands of innocent human souls are still expelled from earth.”
However, he also believes that the motto “free Palestine”, which seems “out of any doubt”, “does not answer the simple question of why he has not yet been released to hostages.” “Why could it be?” He wonders ironically and adds: “Why did Hamas chose to commit those horrible acts on October 7? The answer seems obvious and I think Hamas chooses to hide behind people, in an equally cynical position for their own interests.
Thom Yorke then dedicates a long text to explain why social networks do not seem the right place to have this type of conversations. He considers that there should be “face to face” debates by those who “really want the murders and there to be an understanding.” The artist charges against the mentality “we against them” and against polarization, because “destroys hope.”
Yorke believes that “if the world flees from these dark times and finds peace, it will be only when we rediscover what we have in common and extremists return to darkness.” Finally, it indicates that the alternatives are not easy but that we must “go back” far from “current toxicity.” He understands that this statement will not satisfy everyone, but joins the “millions of people who pray for this suffering.”
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