Music should build bridges – not call for death

As an artist who has spent my entire career using music to build bridges and friendship that can lead to peace between Israel and the Muslim world, it is deeply upsetting that a music festival is used as a backdrop for promoting hate and violence. Where my colleagues and I chose dialogue and extending a hand to our fellow musicians across the region, Kneecap and Bob Vylan sadly prefer division.

I was born and grew up in Jaffa, just to the South of Tel Aviv. A mixed city where Jews and Arabs live together, I was raised listening to classical Arabic music as well as more modern pop from our neighbours in Lebanon and Egypt. Even the religious music of the synagogue reflected the Arab and Muslim countries from which our parents and grandparents immigrated to Israel.

For my family and me, that was the Balkans. These childhood influences were eventually realised and fused with metal when I started the band Orphaned Land in 1991 with my colleagues, bringing chants and melodies from their Libyan and Tunisian grandparents. Since then our music has reflected a combination of more traditional death metal with Arabic, Turkish, Persian, and traditional Jewish sacred poems.

In autumn 2013, we toured Europe with a Palestinian band (Khalas). As much as our concerns together, it was a very clear statement that peaceful coexistence is possible and should be celebrated. Our song Sapari is an ode to Yemeni Judeo-Arabic poetry, and a concert in Turkey allowed us to join and perform for friends and fans from Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Bahrain, and Morocco.

We are not alone in using our music as a bridge to the Arab world. The Abraham Accords have allowed Israeli artists to collaborate with counterparts in signatory countries, and Ziv Yehezkel poignantly sang the Emirati national anthem to celebrate normalisation between Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi in September 2020.

So, when we have shown that Israeli artists have started to bring people together and build elusive peace between Jews and Muslims, the likes of Kneecap and Bob Vylan stand for the polar opposite. Within almost one click of landing on any number of social media sites, we can now see videos of Bob Vylan’s chants of “death death to the IDF” and calls for Israel’s erasure “from the river to the sea” being cheered on by thousands of festival goers. As an Israeli and Jewish artist, would I feel welcome, or even safe, at such a festival?

Musicians should take a stance, but stay away from hateful messaging or calls for violence. This one goes to all the artists, wherever they are on the map or whichever side of the conflict they're from.

________________

Kobi Farhi is lead singer and founder of metal band Orphaned Land.

LBC Opinion provides a platform for diverse opinions on current affairs and matters of public interest.

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official LBC position.

To contact us email opinion@lbc.co.uk