BDS calls to boycott Radiohead as group announces first tour in 7 years

The anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement calls to boycott Britain’s Radiohead after the group announced its first tour in seven years.

“Last year, we got together to rehearse, just for the hell of it,” drummer Philip Selway says on Instagram.

“After a seven-year pause, it felt really good to play the songs again and reconnect with a musical identity that has become lodged deep inside all five of us.”

Radiohead, which also comprises singer and main songwriter Thom Yorke, guitarists Jonny Greenwood and Ed O’Brien, and bass player Colin Greenwood, will play four dates each in Madrid, Bologna, London, Copenhagen and Berlin.

But the announcement was met with a boycott call by BDS.

“Even as Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza reaches its latest, most brutal and depraved phase of induced starvation, Radiohead continues with its complicit silence, while one member repeatedly crosses our picket line, performing a short drive away from a livestreamed genocide, alongside an Israeli artist that entertains genocidal Israeli forces,” an Instagram post read.

“Palestinians reiterate our call for the boycott of Radiohead concerts, including its rumoured tour, until the group convincingly distances itself, at a minimum, from Jonny Greenwood’s crossing of our peaceful picket line during Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,” it says.

Greenwood has a long collaboration with Israeli musician Dudu Tassa. In May, the two cancelled shows in the UK due to what they said were credible threats against the venues and audiences.

Fans can register to buy tickets for Radiohead’s tour from Friday.