Vicious Attempt to Silence Musicians

BEN LUNN draws attention to the way cultural expressions of solidarity with Palestinians in the UK are being censored by Israeli-sponsored lawfare

INSPIRATIONAL: (L) Musicians take part in a Nakba 76 pro-Palestine demonstration and march in London, May 2024, to mark the mass displacement of Palestinians in 1948, referred to as the Nakba; (R) Composer Cornelius Cardew in People's Liberation Music supporting the Grunwick march, July 1977 Photo: AndyScott/CC

ON NOVEMBER 15 the Cornelius Cardew Concerts Trust (CCCT), an organisation dedicated to the music and ethos of Cornelius Cardew, a communist and experimental music composer, were due to host a solidarity concert in Morley College’s Holst Room. However, on the 14th one of the organisers announced on their personal Facebook that their event The World Stands with Palestine had been cancelled.

The organiser in question emphasised that the Trust had not chosen to cancel the concert. However, it came to light the organisation UK Lawyers for Israel (who offer services like “basic training for lawyers on international law and Israel” or “to contribute generally as lawyers to creating a supportive climate of opinion in the United Kingdom towards Israel”) had contacted both the CCCT and Morley College alleging that “holding the concert would be in breach of the law”. This led Morley College to cancel the concert. The CCCT have stated that “this is an outrageous allegation” and that the CCCT were determined not to be “intimidated by the browbeating of UK Lawyers for Israel.”

UKLFI was founded initially by Jonathan Turner and others as a counter to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign in 2011.

This manoeuvring is extremely troubling. However it does demonstrate how important cultural, and ideological, battles are. As was witnessed shortly after invasion of Russia into Ukraine in 2022, culture became a battleground of ideas where the very question of the performing Russian music came to the forefront. But what makes this development more concerning is it is being pushed predominantly from above, through organisations which we cannot verify as legitimate organisations, and not just PR fronts to divert from the atrocities committed by the Netanyahu government and his stooges.

Thankfully organisations like PalMusic UK have managed to host events promoting Palestinian culture, but other big institutions like the Barbican have been threatened by UKLFI suggesting they are in breach of 1986 Public Order Act.

One question readers may be asking is: if this organisation and supporters are so against the concert, why do they not just picket/protest against the performance? What is cannily done by UKLFI is exploit the fact that many venues are often charitable organisations.

This means that part of the duty of being a charitable organisation is to be “apolitical,” in addition to many other conditions which organisations need to follow to be eligible for funding. A statement released by UKFLI on November 18 argued that “Morley College, a registered charity, could also be in danger of breaching its charitable objectives.”

What can be seen from this development is artists, and organisations who support them or hire them in Britain, are not free to speak their minds. Though many have been aware of this for a long period of time, given the previous history of blacklisting suspected communist artists, it has not been this naked and clear to see.

The UKFLI statement on this issue details their accusations against the concert, which suggest: “The CCCT concert and its publicity appears to be a political campaign for the government of Gaza, Hamas.” Similarly, Caroline Turner, the director of UKFLI, included in her statement the words: “It is a shame that the Cornelius Cardew Concert Trust appears to have been hijacked by anti-Israel activists.” The Cornelius Cardew Concert Trust, have yet to make a public statement, though they are seeking legal advice on how to proceed.

The conflation between solidarity with Palestinians and sympathies with terrorism has been a longstanding argument of many critics of the pro-Palestinian movement in Britain (and internationally) and, as already mentioned, the precarious circumstances venues find themselves in makes it very easy to silence any art that is made in solidarity with Palestine and the Palestinians.

Much as with artists supporting Vietnam in the ’60s, fighting apartheid in South Africa in the ’80s and earlier, or artists condemning the atrocities of the invasion of Iraq in the early 2000s, artists need the freedom to speak on such issues. Ultimately, artists should be free to speak on any issue they desire – as at the end of the day, the quality of the art and the strength of the idea will give it the longevity it deserves. Good art challenges.

Similarly, the simple act of performing works by Palestinians or performers dedicating a concert to victims of war in Palestine, Ukraine, Sudan, Yemen, or any people in conflict is not criminal.

We should send our solidarity to the Cornelius Cardew Concerts Trust, and other organisations fighting the good fight. And to quote the great Leonard Bernstein:

“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”