Tag: Israel

Zionist

~ wintersnowmoon

In 2006 Palestinian groups had called for an academic & cultural boycott of Israel. On July 29th 2008, Morrissey played his first gig there.

https://electronicintifada.net/content/morrissey-celebrating-apartheid-tel-aviv/821https://electronicintifada.net/content/morrissey-celebrating-apartheid-tel-aviv/821

In July 2012, he told Israel’s channel 2 news that:

“There’s no point in punishing an entire nation for something its leader says or does.”

In his November 2017 interview with Der Spiegel he dismissed the idea of a cultural boycott, seemingly not previously aware of the BDS movement.

“It is narrow-minded. Being politically correct is incorrect. It means forbidding the freedom of speech. This is how the BDS movement sounds to me.”

and

“I love this city [Tel Aviv]. The rest of the world does not like Israel well. But the people there are very generous and friendly. You should never judge a people by their government. It is very rare for the government to reflect the wishes of the people.'”

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/british-singer-morrissey-slams-bds-movement-as-absurd-514833

His 2017 album, Low In High School, had 3 songs set in Israel.

The Girl From Tel Aviv Who Wouldn’t Kneel, which included a side-swipe at American intervention:

Of princes and kings and their costly parade
Blitz them all back to the Stone Age
The American way displayed proudly
Is to show lots of teeth and talk loudly
And the land weeps oil
The land weeps oil
What do you think all these armies are for?
Just because the land weeps oil

When You Open Your Legs, in which the song’s narrator forgets everything because of sex:

4am and once again
I am asked to leave this club in Tel Aviv
It’s 4am and once again
I am asked to leave this club in Tel Aviv, oh Everything I know deserts me now
When you open your legs
Everything I know deserts me now
When you open…

& Israel, which mixes sex with religion, envy and threat.

Realize if you’re happy
Jesus sends you straight to hell
Israel Israel
And should you dare, enjoy your body
Here tolls Hades welcome bell
Israel Israel
You’ve found a middle course existance
We’re all bones and flesh and shell
Israel Israel
I can’t answer for what armies do
They are not you They are not you
They are not you
In other climes they bitch and whine
Just because you’re not like them
Israel Israel
The sky is dark
For many others
They want it dark
For you as well
Israel Israel
Earth is just one big asylum
An explodes a prison cell
See us squirm in our own damaged spell
You were born
As guilty sinners
Before you stood up right, you fell
Put the fear of many gods
In Israel
Nature gave you
Every impulse
Who are virgin priests to tell
Who, how to love
How to live
Israel
And they who reign, abuse, upon you
Upon you
They are jealous of you as well
Love yourself
As you should
Israel

There’s nothing to suggest that it has anything to do with the conflict between Israel & Palestine.

Tel Aviv sells itself as one of the most gay friendly cities in the world.

Tel Aviv is known internationally as one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world, welcoming gay tourists with open arms, and also offering a safe refuge for those from the LGBTQ community of surrounding countries in the region. (Tourist Israel, 2021)   https://www.touristisrael.com/why-tel-aviv-is-the-ultimate-lgbtq-travel-destination/26062/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/21/gay-lgbt-muslim-countries-middle-east

And as the Vegan capital of the world.

The “vegan capital of the world” is what proud locals dub Tel Aviv. With 400 vegan and vegan-friendly kitchens catering to most of Israel’s 200,000 vegans, going meat-free isn’t just easy, here; it’s a chance to sample the best food in town. (Jasmine Phull, the Independent, 6 November 2017) https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/middle-east/vegan-food-tel-aviv-best-restaurants-israel-vegetarian-friendly-port-capital-meshek-barzilay-orna-ella-bana-a8036081.html

If Morrissey was racist towards Muslims he’d hardly have Istanbul as one of his favourite cities.

I had a timid childhood. My past is also full of repression. I still do not know what it means to have fun and to enjoy physically. Istanbul has a feature that dissipates this mood and crisis. When you return to the British land, you are left with the same despair, it’s separate. This is the secret of Istanbul, the people of Istanbul: It is very alive, very real. This is also something I admire. I don’t see myself as a ‘living person’ as much as you do. I’m an extra head in the crowd, that’s all. (Morrissey, Hurriyet, 24 November 2014) https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/kelebek/hayat/morrissey-cinsel-hayatim-koca-bir-cahillikten-ibaret-27621773

And he felt his boycott of Canada was a failure.

My decision to return to Canada after almost 15 years of protest against its savage and Neanderthal annual Baby Seal Kill is entirely because my stance was ultimately of no use and helped no one.  My voice was drowned out by the merciless swing of spiked axes crushing the heads of babies. (Morrissey, Morrissey Central, 20 September 2018)

Desite that, as usual, it was interpreted as genocidal, reactionary racism by the press.

…to argue that Israel is beset with ‘dark’ hostile forces seems to conflate the very existence of Arab and Muslim populations with the most extreme forms of Islamist ideology. The legitimate grounds for Palestinians to feel oppressed or denied justice by the Israeli state are conjured away, or represented as inherently life-denying forces… For Morrissey, the legitimate demands of Arab and Muslim opinion in the region are denied, and millions of people only represented as dark impersonal forces, motivated by hate and jealousy. It’s a deeply racist and reactionary line of thought. (Michael Calderbank, 2 December 2017) https://www.redpepper.org.uk/where-did-it-all-go-wrong-morrissey/

Two songs about sex & one about defying authority had to be about Zionism.

The Quietus review, bylined “Mr Agreeable”, said: “That’s opposition to Likud, Netanyahu kissing Trump’s arse, the f**king settlements programme, the f**king bulldozing of protesters, all sussed for what it really is — plain old green-eyed jealousy.” Guardian music critic Alexis Petridis also poured scorn on the notion. “Don’t worry, everyone, he’s got it all worked out: anyone who criticises Israel’s actions — say, the bulldozing of Palestinian homes in the occupied territories — is ‘jealous’.” Meanwhile Guardian TV critic Stuart Heritage asserted: “It has got to the point that just reading the track list of his new album — including song titles such as The Girl From Tel Aviv Who Wouldn’t Kneel and Israel — is enough to send your sphincter zooming up through your intestines and into your windpipe.” (Lee Harpin, Jewish Chronicle, 27 November 2017) https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/critics-attack-israel-in-morrissey-album-reviews-1.449077

And he got denounced by social media.

On a Side Note: Morrissey has a fairly well documented admiration for Israeli actor Lior Ashkenazi & that it’s possible the songs were inspired by his films. https://morrissey-shot.livejournal.com/1140439.html

Morrissey, Lior Ashkenazi

Brexit

~ wintersnowmoon

Morrissey was sympathetic to Brexit for left leaning reasons.

In the same way that he’s in favour of Catalonian Independence:

“British singer and songwriter Steven Patrick Morrissey has used images of the police violence during the Catalan independence referendum on 1st October last year during his world tour to illustrate his song Who will protect us from the police. This isn’t the first time that the singer has referred to Catalonia. Three days after the referendum, during a concert presenting his new album, he said: “Free Catalonia from Spain. Free the bull from Spain. Free everybody from Spain.”” (March, 2018)

https://www.elnacional.cat/en/news/morrissey-images-catalan-referendum-attacks_245703_102.html

Scottish Independence:

“Morrissey, known for his penchant for making controversial statements, has become the latest personality to wade in on the Scottish independence debate. The World Peace is None of Your Business singer has placed himself firmly in the “yes” camp, according to an interview with Ireland’s Hot Press magazine. “They must cut ties with the United King-dumb,” he said. “I love Scotland, and I love the Scottish spirit and they do not need Westminster in the least.”” (August 2014)

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/scottish-independence-morrissey-urges-scots-leave-united-king-dumb-9659984.html

& The Arab Spring:

“I think it’s important not to assume that the government represent the wishes of the people. This is actually very rarely the case, hence the Arab Spring. It’s not the case in England, and it’s not the case in Israel. All presidents and prime ministers love war and conflict, because they see it as an easy way to garner patriotic support. Thatcher was never happier than when she was killing Argentinians, and Bush was delighted to bomb just about anyone. War is great business for governments, and the people usually have no say. I had an offer to play in Damascus, but do you turn it down because of the Assad regime? As we now know, Assad’s control over Syria has been Hitleresque, and the people have no basic human rights.” (August, 2014)

https://www.hotpress.com/music/a-piece-of-his-mind-morrissey-interview-12107062

He’s deeply opposed to governments & the class system:

“From my own experience England cannot be democratic because it has a self-elected superstructure that has decided that they are to be known as ‘the royal family’. Forty-five per cent of the UK want the monarchy, 55% do not. The Queen is the richest woman in the world, yet still takes £200 million every year from the working British people. Her presence alone symbolises repression, and her work – whatever it is – fails to mean anything… There must be because people are absolutely fed-up with the idea of a Prime Minister whom no one ever likes. British politics has never quite been so unconvincing, with Prime Minister’s Question Time looking like a scene from Brideshead Revisited.” (August, 2014, link above)

He didn’t vote for Brexit:

“I’m non-political. I always have been. I’ve never voted in my life.” (November, 2017)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/news/morrissey-brexit-will-never-happen-westminster-doesnt-want/

& has never supported UKIP:

sam:
Can we just sort out your political position because I’m sick of reading about how you’ve had a ‘controversial outburst’ when I know that you aren’t seen anywhere and you don’t ever speak to anyone. I’ve known you for 35 years and I’ve never heard you outburst. Are you actually a supporter of UKIP? 

M:
No. Never. 

He’s also never supported Nigel Farage – although being Morrissey he managed to get serious flack by also saying Farage would make a good PM, which from Moz is like saying he’d be a good serial killer:

sam:
Of Nigel Farage? 

M:
No, no, no … but it’s obvious that he would make a good Prime Minister … if any of us can actually remember what a good Prime Minister is. 

By ‘good’ he means memorable:

[Margaret Thatcher’s] policies I thought were the work of the Devil. I thought she was purely, intentionally evil. But you can’t deny that she was a phenomenon, and you couldn’t help but overdiscuss her… John Major is in nobody’s mind a Prime Minister; he seems to have no human presence at all. [ Gossip from Steven Daly ] Well, that’s the first interesting thing I’ve heard about him. Now he deserves to be Prime Minister. (Morrissey, Spin, April 1991)

His objections to the EU are his objections to all governments:

sam:
But you are a Brexiteer? 

M:
I didn’t vote in the referendum although I can see how there is absolutely nothing attractive about the EU. My view has always been that the result of the referendum must be carried through. If the vote had been remain there would be absolutely no question that we would remain. In the interest of true democracy, you cannot argue against the wish of the people. Without the people, nobody in high office gets paid. (June, 2019)

https://www.morrisseycentral.com/messagesfrommorrissey/234417-the-interview

And it’s linked to his serious distrust of legacy media (unsurprising considering how bad his own coverage is):

“What has happened is that news media can no longer attach any nobility to old-style politics because although politicians do not and cannot change, the people the world over have changed. What could be more grotesquely stupid than the Clinton-Trump coverage? As for Brexit, the result was magnificent, but it is not accepted by the BBC or Sky News because they object to a public that cannot be hypnotised by BBC or Sky nonsense. These news teams are exactly the same as Fox and CNN in that they all depend on public stupidity to create their own myth of reality. Watch them at your peril!” (October, 2016)

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/morrissey-brexit-magnificent-britain-leave-european-union-a7379361.html

Some journalists know they’ve simplified his position to give it an outrage news angle – the others cut and paste.

Side Note : Lexit.

It’s been astounding to witness so many left-wingers, in meltdown over Brexit, resort to parroting liberal economics. Thus we hear that factor mobility isn’t about labour arbitrage, that public services aren’t under pressure, that we must prioritise foreign direct investment and trade. It’s little wonder Labour became so detached from its base. Such claims do not match the lived experience of ordinary people in regions of the country devastated by deindustrialisation and disinvestment. (Joe Guinan, The New Statesman, July 2017)

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/brexit/2017/07/lexit-eu-neoliberal-project-so-lets-do-something-different-when-we-leave-it

My view of the EU has always been not that I am hostile to foreigners but I am in favour of democracy. I think they are building an empire and want us to be part of that empire, and I don’t want that. (Tony Benn, Labour Party MP)

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-26575258

the EU emerged through the rescaling of governance to inter-elite networks insulated – by design – from popular control, which lock in anti-democratic and conservative policies. Restoring popular control has to involve leaving the EU and revitalising national democracy in a progressive, internationalist direction. (Ros Taylor, LSE Blog, June 10th 2016) https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2016/06/10/the-eu-locked-in-neoliberalism-and-locked-out-its-people-brexit-is-the-alternative/

Progressives should be appalled by European Union’s ruination of Greece. It’s time to reclaim the Eurosceptic cause…
“Everything good about the EU is in retreat; everything bad is on the rampage,” writes George Monbiot, explaining his about-turn. “All my life I’ve been pro-Europe,” says Caitlin Moran, “but seeing how Germany is treating Greece, I am finding it increasingly distasteful.” Nick Cohen believes  the EU is being portrayed “with some truth, as a cruel, fanatical and stupid institution”. “How can the left support what is being done?” asks Suzanne Moore. “The European ‘Union’. Not in my name.” There are senior Labour figures in Westminster and Holyrood privately moving to an “out” position too. (Owen Jones, the Guardian, 14th July 2015) https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/14/left-reject-eu-greece-eurosceptic