Cat Power, the indie/folk musician with a broken caps lock key, has decided to cancel her show in the hipster Mecca of Tel Aviv. Here’s what happened on Facebook: First she tried to find out if she could play a show in Ramallah. She couldn’t. (She probably could have played a free show somewhere, but taking a stand on human rights don’t come cheap.)
“MUSIC IS HEALING AND IT IS NOT HUMANE IF ALL CANNOT HAVE THE CHOICE, THE RIGHT, TO ATTEND.
H E L P, A W A R E N E S S X X X X X”
Because everyone deserves the right to pay $19.95 to see her, dammit! She’s from America! Uh! Then she turned a bit desperate.
CAN SOMEONE HELP ME FIND A SHOW IN RAMALLAH, MONDAY FEB. 13 FOR THE PEOPLE OF PALESTINE?
I AM GETTING NO LUCK….
T H A N K U !!!!!!!! XXXXX
And finally:
DUE TO MUCH CONFUSION IN MY SOUL,PLAYİNG FOR MY İSRAELİ FANS W/SUCH UNREST BETWEEN İSRAEL&PALESTİNE I CAN’T PLAY,AS I FEEL SICK IN MY SPIRIT XX
Sadly, because of the demons in her Jewish soul…wait a second? She’s not even Jewish? Why is she punishing all Israelis and Palestinians? Because she has some moral high ground against Israel? Shouldn’t she stop playing in the South because of their historical hatred of minorities and suffocation of women’s rights?
I guess the terrorists won. We’re keeping American culture out of the Middle East. Good job, Cat Power. Way to be a pussy.
You’re not too mean today, Chicky. Cat Power manages to be a pussy and an asshole at the same time. Passhole!
But she had no problem playing in Turkey where 13 rebels were killed that very day? I guess her souls isn’t very conflicted.
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Yeah, Cat Power playing Tel Aviv would certainly tip the balance of Israeli – Palestinian politics. Shit, Cat Power’s mere presence in the Middle East would draw the attention of all the countries involved in the Arab Spring as well as Iran. The mullahs dig Cat Power.
Oh wait a minute. I forgot. Cat Power is a minor artist in a small niche genre. Exactly how many people care what she thinks?
I am really sad to see Heeb, a magazine I used to respect, taking cheap shots at a serious artist struggling with a very difficult decision. About half a decade ago Chan played a benefit concert to help fund 3 Cities Against The Wall, an art show by Israeli, Palestinian and American artists opposed to the building of a wall of imprisonment in the West Bank. As one of the organizers of that show I know we took a lot of heat from both directions. From people who felt we should not do art in support of Palestinian human rights and others who felt we were violating a boycott of Israel. As I remember, Heeb wrote favorably about that show and Chan’s involvement. Today, with more and more people calling for a boycott, it is a tough decision for many of us to make, because we know there are good folks in Israel who struggle against the injustice there, but we also know that Palestinian civil society has called for a boycott. Chan has done benefit shows all over the world raising money to fight all forms of injustice. If her on line statements come off a bit jagged, that’s what we love about her. She speaks from the heart. As for Mr. Chicky’s comment that Chan is not a Jew, that says more about you, Chicky, than it does about Cat Power. Has Heeb become a racist rag? Let history judge.
@Althelion – the power is with the people, you don’t have to be famous to make a difference. The revolution in Tunisia one of an infinity of examples.
@ Althelion
“Oh wait a minute. I forgot. Cat Power is a minor artist in a small niche genre. Exactly how many people care what she thinks?”
-I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Pathetic. Instead of dealing with very real issues of racism and sexism in Israel you try to equate it to a historical time period elsewhere. Folks like Ray Charles did refuse to play in the American south because of the apartheid and racism there, and it helped people have the courage to stand up and make changes. When will pathetic Israeli hipsters like yourself stand up and do the same? When Israel apartheid is a thing of the past then we can take seriously what you might have to say.
Every crime and violation of international law that Israel commits is done through the direct participation and authorization of the United States.
American artists have every right to boycott the apartheid regime in an attempt
to bring attention to the same.
Hammerbrain,
Israel is not an apartheid state. Ask the over 1million Israeli-Arab citizens of the nation. You are a knucklehead. Cat Power is a knucklehead. Maybe she will give a concert in Gaza, Syria, Saudia Arabia or Iran. Talk about LinSanity. Maybe the Mullahs will mull it over and not stone her. The only person that loses from a Cat Power girlcot is Cat Power. Sadly, she will not see the facts from the ground and learn to draw her own conclusions, rather than listen to the hipster doofus bourgeois sentimentalists who consistently berate Israel while giving a free pass to all of the inhumanity that goes on throughout the world. Time to call bullshit, bullshit.
Goodbye Columbus […you are the weakest link],
If Israel is not an apartheid state, what kind of state is it?
Why won’t Israel allow the exiled Palestinians to return to their original homes? Why are checkpoints enforced in the West Bank that mean that sick children have to beg to be allowed to get to a doctor? Why Israeli-only roads in the west bank? Why Israeli-only buses?
I can only imagine how wonderful the world would be without religon and rediculous ideologies like Zionism.
Martin,
‘You so crazy!’ Is your avatar the view from having your head up your ass? The ‘exiled’ voted with their feet to allow the conquering Arab armies to wipe the scourge of Israel off the map. You live by the sword, you die by the sword. Those homes are not their homes. By your logic, the over 1 million Jews expelled from Arab nations since the 1950s have lots of real estate to visit in Tripoli, Cairo, Beirut, Baghdad, Tehran, etc. Check points are the reality of living in a state of war. If the ‘power is with the people’ as you write, why don’t the Palestinian people vote in a government that acknowledges the fundamental right of existence of a Jewish state? Why are the sick children trying to go to Israeli hospitals/doctors? I have yet to see Hamas build their own LIJ-Little Infant Jihad Hospital. They use their hospitals to store weapons and human shields. They have hundreds of millions of dollars that they do not spend on the people, but rather on trying to wipe Israel off of the map. Why Israeli only buses and roads, well when some homicide bombers consistently try start your day with a bang, you would figure out a work around.
Dude, get your head out of ‘Uranus’ and stop looking at the ‘Milky Way’ and instead look at the real world. Israel is in a very tough neighborhood. Their best neighbors ignore them. The rest do not acknowledge their right to exist. Until the latter changes, the facts on the ground won’t change. Maybe you and Cat Power can sip some PBR together in Bushwick and bash the Jewish state.
Colombus – Well thanks for criticising my avatar and shelling out some half-truths. Best you can do?
The ball is in your court Colombus – when will Israel stop building illegal settlements? This is the first step towards peace, but your country is more concerned about squeezing the Palestinians out of existance than peace.
In reply to “why don’t the Palestinian people vote in a government that acknowledges the fundamental right of existence of a Jewish state?”. Well that is just pure hypocrisy!
thank you goodbye columbus ,,,you expressed it very well. The Israel haters will never understand.
Thank you, Goodbye Columbus, for infusing some sanity. I am completely confounded by people’s willingness to surrender any kind of logical or moral consistency in their attacks on Israel. Tragically, this includes many Jews. I find the boycotts very troubling and don’t think it is unfair to write off Cat Power’s actions as being meaningless or the acts of an insignificant artist. She is talented and has a substantial following. Elvis Costello was one of the first to do this (which continues to anger me) and then the Pixies (whom I am now very conflicted about because I really adore their work) and I can’t understand why they book these shows only to cancel them. I intend to try utilize some kind of media (probably film) to expose this hypocrisy and would be open to input from others on what questions that I could ask these people in interviews which would get to the heart of shedding light on their inconsistent thinking. The questions must be respectful as I do believe I can get access to these people and film their responses.
What I don’t understand is if she was just going to cancel the show why did she bother booking it in the first place, or was this show booked at some point in ancient history when this conflict didn’t exist? Seems like a dickish thing to do to one’s manager…
Pretty clear that with his support for the bogus “right of return” that Martin is for the destruction of Israel (like all his other BDS brethren).
why do any of you even care? stfu and stop trying to find something to HATE. grow the fuck up.
just thinking out loud…. but is there a Muslim relation here… Cat Stevens.. Cat Powers… !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, let me think out loud too. I can’t help noticing that, when this article was originally posted, the title was “Cat Power cancels Tel-Aviv Gig, is a Pussy!” and now that title has been shortened. Is it possible that after two weeks Chicky or Heeb developed a sense of shame about the blatant racism and sexism of their attack on one of the leading figures in contemporary popular music? Ever since a friend made me aware of this post, I have been scratching my head and wondering “What exactly is the difference between Heeb and the JDL?” and ” If Chicky is a ‘Hipsterjew” exactly what is he hip to?” I mean, the comments on this sight contain all the cliches I heard from elderly zionists in the 1980s. Only those guys had an excuse. Accurate information about the Israel/Palestine conflict was not readily available to American Jews back then. What is your excuse hipsters?
Well interesting topic , I happen to like Cat Powers( great singer but like Elvis Costello and the Pixies,naive when it comes to the middle east) and think that Tobocman is an idiot , you think you ever get accurate information? I dont think you would know what accurate information is, if it hit you in the face. Maybe you couldnt get accurate information about Israel in the 1980’s because you dont know where to look ,what a crock .I went there in the 1980’s and to Beirut in 1980 (before Israel’s army and well before American soldiers went in .I have eye witness information .Cant say the same for the 230 Marines who were Murdered there. They must have been Israelis too.informed?Do you know anything about the outright savagery of the 5 competeting Lebanese and Syrian militias. Also the other Idiot’s, hammerbrain & Martin, When are you authors gonna understand ,you use the term you and yours to Identify what is 99% surely Americans as Israelis ,I am Jewish and American , I support Israel ,does that make me an Israeli? you lump together my religeon and your political beliefs and call me an Israeli?Sounds a little racist. I am a born an bred American ,just maybe more enlightened than you.I would say you are lableing people like they did in South Africa or the pre 70’s south of the U.S.A ? You like many jerks label support for Israel as being Israeli. Israel is in a tough nieghborhood,you wouldnt want to live in a place where someone ,mere miles away ,rains missles and sends suicide bombers to kill you and your family,also talking about good nieghbors, lets not worry about Syria where Killing it’s own citizens( or Lebanons) is a once every decade sport? As for the roads ,Stop terrorism and get acsess. Also the right of return ,Like someone else said ,what about the property and reparations for all the Jews the Arab countrys of the middle east and Northern Africa kicked out( not left, because they were urged to do so by thier own leaders as the Palestinians were) and confiscated thier homes and property . There is an old saying ….There is no standard like a double Standard!