French Trio Wanderer Cancels Lebanon Concert
French classical group Trio Wanderer canceled its Sunday evening concert in Lebanon's Baalbek International Festival, a day after activists lambasted it for playing in Israel last year.
A source at the festival confirmed to AFP on Saturday that Trio Wanderer would no longer be playing, but denied that it was because of political pressure.
"The concert was canceled because of personal reasons pertaining to Vincent Coq," the group's pianist, the source said on condition of anonymity.
Trio Wanderer was not immediately available for comment.
The celebrated festival is one of the most popular cultural events and is held in Baalbek's spectacular Roman ruins, drawing large crowds.
On Saturday, the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel in Lebanon (CBSIL) published a letter addressed to the French trio on its website.
It said Trio Wanderer's 2016 concert in the southern Israeli port city of Eilat "insulted the martyrs of Lebanon and of Baalbek."
"We demand that you follow the example of hundreds of musicians and international artists that have declared their support for the cultural boycott of the apartheid state," the letter read.
A boycott campaign over Israel's five-decade occupation of Palestinian territory has been under way for years, spearheaded by the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) movement.
Earlier this year, Lebanon banned the screening of Hollywood blockbuster "Wonder Woman" because lead actress Gal Gadot had served in the Israeli military.
Lebanon and Israel are still technically in a state of war, and the Arab League maintains a Damascus-based office responsible for coordinating a regional boycott of Israel.
Other performers at Baalbek this year include Franco-Lebanese star trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf and American rock band Toto.
over 6 years
Boycott is a very legitimate form of pressure to end Israel inhumane policies. Phillipo happens to believe that Palestinians are undeserving of human rights.
over 6 years
I certainly do not believe that the Palestinians are undeserving of human rights.
They need and deserve human rights just like any other people and perhaps it is time that some of the other Arab and Moslem States, such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia, learn that as well.
But please, also remember, the Israeli man/woman in the street also deserves to be able to walk out or go to a supermarket, without living in fear that someone might stab them in the back.
over 6 years
Phillipo, as long as one people is occupied and oppressed by another, a form of resistance will exist. The Israeli man or woman walking down the street and being stabbed is the result of decades of oppression, land theft, torture, displacement, murder and ethnic cleansing by the Israelis. Well, you might say it is inhumane, however, the human brain works in mysterious ways especially when being abused for a long long time. I suggest you look more into the rise of BDS and how it has come to exist.
Once again BDS supporters shooting themselves in the foot.
"We demand that you follow the example of hundreds of musicians and international artists that have declared their support for the cultural boycott of the apartheid state,"
And what about the hundreds of artists who have told them where to stick their protest letters and have appeared in Israel?