Nick Cave Calls Israel Boycott “Cowardly and Shameful” in Letter to Brian Eno

Sam Sodomsky
Updated
Doubling down on his opposition to the Boycott, Divestments, and Sanctions movement after the Bad Seeds performed in Tel Aviv last year

Nick Cave has doubled down on his opposition to the cultural boycott of Israel in a letter to Brian Eno, one of the boycott's biggest supporters. Last year, Cave’s live performances in Israel were met with controversy, and Eno was among the artists urging Cave to cancel the shows in solidarity with the Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions Movement. At the time, Cave addressed the issue at a press conference, saying, among other things, “it suddenly became very important to make a stand against those people who are trying to shut down musicians, to bully musicians, to censor musicians, and to silence musicians.”

Cave also wrote a personal email to Eno, which Cave has now publicly shared as part of his ongoing Q&A series Red Hand Files.

In his letter, Cave writes, “I do not support the current government in Israel, yet do not accept that my decision to play in the country is any kind of tacit support for that government’s policies. Nor do I condone the atrocities that you have described; nor am I ignorant of them.” He adds, “I have done a considerable amount of work for Palestine through the Hoping Foundation, raising personally around £150,000 for the children of Palestine, so in a sense, I have already played the other side.”

He continues, “But I also do not support the Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions movement, as you know. I think the cultural boycott of Israel is cowardly and shameful.”

In his post on the Red Hand Files, Cave adds, after the letter, “Brian Eno, beyond any other musician, taught my friends and me how to make music. The records he made remain some of the most important and essential recordings I have ever heard. So, if there seems to be a thread of anguish that runs through this letter, this is indeed the case. I am writing to my hero.”

Cave concludes, “Occasionally, I wonder if The Bad Seeds did the right thing in playing Israel. I cannot answer that question. I understand and accept the validity of many of the arguments that are presented to me. Indeed, some of my dearest friends in the music industry found my decision very difficult to accept, but there it is, after much consideration the decision was made: I simply could not treat my Israeli fans with the necessary contempt to do Brian Eno’s bidding.”