French-Israeli singer Amir’s performance at the Francofolies de Spa festival in the city of Spa, Belgium, was marked by high tension on Friday following accusations of “support for Israeli military action in Gaza” by a dozen artists, including French-Swiss Yoa (real name: Yoanna Bolzli), who canceled her performance.
They denounced the fact that Amir expressed support for the IDF after the Hamas attacks against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Amir’s family made aliyah from France when he was 8 years old, and subsequently served in the IDF Intelligence Corps.
“My social, political, and humanist convictions are incompatible with sharing the stage with an artist who denies the ongoing genocide in Palestine and has participated in events backing the Israeli army,” Yoa declared on social media.
Hostile tags, such as “Spa complice” (“Spa accomplice”) and “Amir machine à tuer” (“Amir killing machine”), were sprayed across the city. Nevertheless, the organizers decided to go ahead with the show.
During the concert, a teenager carrying a PLO flag was quickly removed by security, as was an Israeli flag confiscated earlier, according to Marc Radelet, the festival’s press officer.
No other incidents were reported.
Amir didn’t let it get him down and set the record straight during his performance. “It’s been a few days since I discovered that love can divide people. Yet I’ve always felt close to those who suffer, those who cry, those who doubt, those who apologize. The pains of the world pass through you as they pass through me,” he said.
He continued, “I respect those who oppose me, but I think that to be able to move forward, we have to listen to each other, we have to be able to dialogue. Dialogue is clearly preferable to anathemas and boycotts. I think it’s important to use our position as artists to set an example.”
He concluded, “My only response to hatred is art and music. Because we’re all here together tonight, I’d like us to sing with one voice, and for that song to rise above the tumult.”
His fans, present en masse, called for music to be separated from political debates. “Let’s leave opinions aside and enjoy ourselves,” one of them told Belgian media outlet RTBF.
Amir‘s record label, Parlophone (part of Warner Music), denounced the “déferlement de haine antisémite,” or “surge of antisemitic hatred.”
The organizers defended their decision to have Amir perform as scheduled.
They argued that, as far as Amir is concerned, they had never “witnessed any propaganda on stage.” They added they were not in a position “to morally assess his personal trajectory” other than through his songs dealing with “universal and consensual themes such as love, celebration, the quest for self and resilience.”
Amir, 41, aka Amir Haddad, full name: Laurent Amir Khlifa Khedider Haddad, took part in the Israeli televised music competition “Kokhav Nolad” (“A Star Is Born”) in 2006. He represented France in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “J’ai cherché,” which finished in sixth place.
Elsewhere in Belgium
Another music festival in Belgium this weekend, Rock Herk, also drew controversy last week when the European Jewish Association urged the organizers to remove punk-rap duo Bob Vylan from the program following the band’s controversial statements at the Glastonbury Festival in the U.K.
During the performance in England, the duo chanted slogans such as “Death, death to the IDF,” “Free, free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea.” Behind them, political messaging referenced the supposed genocide in Gaza.
“This is not about silencing criticism of Israel, this is about silencing a proud and unbowed proponent of hate speech against Jews,” wrote EJA Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin, in a letter to the Rock Herk organizer.
“You do not have to support Israel. You can, even if you choose to do so, support the Palestinian cause. We live in a democracy. But hate speech is entirely different. What Bob Vylan is doing is calling for murder,’’ he added.
But Bob Vylan performed at midnight on Friday night as scheduled.
Originally published by the European Jewish Press.
