Jonny Greenwood, guitarist and keyboardist of Radiohead, has cancelled two upcoming concerts with Israeli musician Dudu Tassa following “credible threats” from pro-Palestinian activists.
Greenwood, 53, and Tassa, 48, had been scheduled to perform at Hackney Church in East London and the Lantern Hall at Bristol Beacon. The two concerts were set for June in support of the duo’s 2023 album Jarak Qaribak, which means Your Neighbor Is Your Friend. The album features Arabic love songs and was recorded in Tel Aviv, Oxfordshire, and various locations across the Middle East.
Pro-Hamas activists opposed the concerts due to the involvement of Israeli musician Dudu Tassa and the fact that the duo’s joint album, Jarak Qaribak, was partially recorded in Tel Aviv.
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) welcomed the cancellations, accusing the performances of “artwashing genocide.” The group claimed the shows would have “whitewashed Israel’s genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza and underlying settler-colonial apartheid.”
Brendan O’Neill nails it again on Kneecap vs Jonny Greenwood & Dudu Tassa. ?
“When you defend the free speech of a music act that praises Jew killers while simultaneously silencing a Jew, that is not “Israelphobia” or “double standards” or “hypocrisy” – it is antisemitism.” pic.twitter.com/bgmCbfBm97
— Ben Green (@BenGreenJeru) May 6, 2025
In a joint statement, Greenwood and Tassa condemned what they described as “censorship” and “intimidation,” explaining that the decision to cancel the London and Bristol shows stemmed from credible safety concerns.
“The venues and their blameless staff have received enough credible threats to conclude that it’s not safe to proceed,” they said. “Promoters of the shows can’t be expected to fund our, or our audiences’, protection.”
Greenwood and Tassa criticized the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, accusing it of trying to “have it both ways.”
“The campaign which has successfully stopped the concerts insist that ‘this is not censorship’ and ‘this isn’t about silencing music or attacking individual artists’ … Forcing musicians not to perform and denying people who want to hear them an opportunity to do so is self-evidently a method of censorship and silencing,” Greenwood and Tassa said.
Dudu Tassa & Jonny Greenwood – Lhla Yzid Ikthar (Live at the Hamam) https://t.co/M4S3F5KBcW
Great musicians are there..Jonny’s daughter also joined as a backing vocalist..what a great team! pic.twitter.com/lM8EnDGFRV— yasuko (@Y_Grrrr) July 20, 2023
The musicians noted the diverse heritage of the album’s featured performers, which includes singers from Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait, and Iraq. “The silencing campaign has demanded that the venues reaffirm their commitment to ethical, inclusive cultural programming,” they said. “Just not this particular mix of cultures, apparently.”
“We believe art exists above and beyond politics; that art that seeks to establish the common identity of musicians across borders in the Middle East should be encouraged, not decried; and that artists should be free to express themselves regardless of their citizenship or their religion — and certainly regardless of the decisions made by their governments,” Greenwood and Tassa said.
