Learn about the history of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, equality and justice by exploring major events in the history of their oppression on this day of the year.
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24 April
MUSICAL GIANT BOYCOTTS ISRAELOn this day in 2010, Gil Scott-Heron announces on stage in London the cancellation of his scheduled Tel Aviv gig. Activists from the Gil Scott Heron Boycott Israel Campaign had picketed the event earlier in the day, attracting considerable support. Ten activists from the Campaign then protested inside, raising the issue of Israeli apartheid right at the start of Heron’s set.
احد عمالقة الموسيقي يقاطع اسرائيل
24 أبريل
في مثل هذا اليوم من عام 2010 ، أعلن جيل سكوت هيرون على خشبة المسرح في لندن إلغاء حفلته في تل أبيب. كان نشطاء من حملة جيل سكوت هيرون لمقاطعة إسرائيل قد اعتصموا ضد الحفلة في وقت سابق من اليوم ، وجذبوا دعمًا كبيرًا لرسالتهم: "أداؤك في إسرائيل سيكون بمثابة أداء في صن سيتي خلال حقبة الفصل العنصري في جنوب إفريقيا ... نأمل بأنك لن تلعب دور الفصل العنصري في إسرائيل ". ثم احتج البعض في الداخل ، وأثاروا قضية الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي في بداية قصة هيرون.
في مثل هذا اليوم من عام 2010 ، أعلن جيل سكوت هيرون على خشبة المسرح في لندن إلغاء حفلته في تل أبيب. كان نشطاء من حملة جيل سكوت هيرون لمقاطعة إسرائيل قد اعتصموا ضد الحفلة في وقت سابق من اليوم ، وجذبوا دعمًا كبيرًا لرسالتهم: "أداؤك في إسرائيل سيكون بمثابة أداء في صن سيتي خلال حقبة الفصل العنصري في جنوب إفريقيا ... نأمل بأنك لن تلعب دور الفصل العنصري في إسرائيل ". ثم احتج البعض في الداخل ، وأثاروا قضية الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي في بداية قصة هيرون.
The Chicago-born artist had shunned all the trappings of fame and success.
"He could have had all those things. But he was greater than that. He seemed wholly uninterested in money. His talent was immense. He was a master lyricist, singer, orator and keyboard player. His spirit was immense.
From his inner-city viewpoint Scott-Heron took the news of the day and spun it into hard-edged social commentary on issues as diverse as apartheid and nuclear energy. But the acid observational wit was sweetened by jazz-tinged soul and funk. His most famous composition, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, has been heralded as the birth of rap – a claim the artist himself rejected.
Gil Scott Heron announces cancellation of Tel Aviv concertArtist won’t play in Israel “until everyone is welcome there”. Fans of revolutionary poet and singer-songwriter Gil Scott Heron welcomed his decision tonight to cancel the concert he had been scheduled to play in Tel Aviv this May. Heron announced the decision during his set at London”s Royal Festival Hall, the opening date of his World tour.
Activists from the Gil Scott Heron Boycott Israel Campaign had picketed the event earlier in the day, attracting considerable public interest and support. Ten activists from the Campaign then continued their protest inside the concert, raising the issue of Israeli apartheid right at the start of Heron”s set and after the first song.
The activists were great admirers of the artist who were shocked by Heron”s decision to play Israel, given his longstanding commitment to equality and civil rights in both the USA and South Africa.
Emory Douglas, renowned artist of the Black Panther Party, commented “My choice to join the voices opposed to your going [to Tel Aviv] wasn’t personal, but the right thing to do. I will be one of the first in line at your next concert in my town. May you continue to inform and inspire.”
A message from Johanesburgh
Dear Gil Scott-Heron,
Those of us in South Africa who fought against Apartheid took strength and courage from your music. The song “Johannesburg” became somewhat of a resistance anthem in the aftermath of the Uprising of June 16, 1976. It was thus a shock and a disappointment to hear that you might be performing in Tel-Aviv, defying the cultural boycott against Apartheid Israel.
For those of us who lived under Apartheid and continue to face its legacy we see many parallels with the treatment of Palestinians. It has been fifty years since the massacre at Sharpeville where 69 people were killed at an anti-pass protest. Palestinians are still forced to carry passes and face daily violations of their fundamental human rights. Palestinian civil society organisations have called on Israel to be boycotted until such time as it abides by international law...
Your performing in Israel actually supports an initiative by Israel to “rebrand” itself. This “rebranding” campaign, launched after the attack on Gaza in December 2008/January 2009 where more than 1400 Palestinians were massacred [3], is aimed at making Israel appear to be a liberal democracy and to whitewash its ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
Your music has always been deeply politicized and scathing of inequality and structural racism. It is in the light of this that we call on you to cancel your event in Israel. We remember your lyrics, “I know that their strugglin’ over there ain’t gonna free me, ?but we all need to be strugglin’ ?if we’re gonna be free”. Have you heard, brother Gill, that most of us in Johannesburg say, apartheid anywhere is apartheid everywhere. Or in the words of Nelson Mandela, “South Africa will not be free until Palestine is free”.
Regards,
The Palestine Solidarity Committee of South Africa
Gil Scott-Heron's father, Gilbert “Giles” Heron, was described as “a great and supremely interesting human being” by the Celtic FC guide "An Alphabet of the Celts." That seems to have been an understatement; Heron, who went to Glasgow for the 1951-52 season to become the first black player to perform for Celtic FC.
3-minute video: Gil Scott-Heron, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: