One of the UK’s best-known klezmer bands has informed fans that a venue has cancelled its concert this evening due to some of its members being Israeli.
Oi Va Voi, which formed in London more than two decades ago, announced that the Strange Brew in Bristol had cancelled their appearance “due to pressure it had received from activist groups, who contacted the venue making untrue or misguided claims about ourselves and Oi Va Voi’s music.”
The band stated that those who had called for its cancellation “have clearly not listened to our output, or seen us perform. They are taking one fact, the ethnicity of some of our members, and using it as evidence for damning accusations about our beliefs and our right to perform in our home country.
“We believe this is a clear case of discrimination, and the tactics of intimidation are identical to those used by far-right groups across the world.”
All information regarding the concert had been removed from the Strange Brew’s website.
The band also called on the Government to “pay closer attention to the increase of ethnically-based censorship of the arts in the UK”, citing recently cancelled concerts featuring Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead and Israeli singer Dudu Tassa.
Drafting new legislation would help to protect venues from intimidation from pressure groups,” they said.
The full statement from Oi Va Voi was posted on the band’s Instagram page
Andrew Gilbert, Vice President of the Board of Deputies, told the Jewish News he would be raising this case directly with government officials.
“A music venue bowing to mob pressure and cancelling a band’s performance due to some of its members being Israeli is an act of abject cowardice”, he said.
“It is an obvious example of discrimination, and the Board will be raising this directly with senior officials in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport”.
A JLC spokesperson said “To exclude Oi Va Voi from performing simply because some of its members are Israeli would be widely condemned as xenophobia if they were from any other country. This is yet another example of Israel and Israelis being held to a different standard. This venue ought to think long and hard about such a blatant double standard.”
Last week Strange Brew hosted a “Boycott Eurovision – Palestine Fundraiser”, organised by Headfirst Collective, a Bristol-based arts organisation which states that its aim is to “be part of a wider positive movement that makes Bristol a diverse and caring place to live. We consider ourselves pro-community, pro-kindness and anti-capitalist.”
In its advertisement for the event, Headfirst Collective said that “Protestors and members of our own community are being persecuted for standing up for what is just…we must continue to organise, escalate and use our spheres of influence.”
Strange Brew has been contacted for comment.
