UK gigs by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and Israeli singer Dudu Tassa canceled

Two UK shows featuring Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood and Israeli artist Dudu Tassa have been canceled amid protests by the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement, British media reported Saturday.

The duo was set to perform at Bristol’s Beacon on June 23 and London’s Hackney Church on June 25, but both gigs were canceled in recent days, the NME reported.

According to the Telegraph, the concerts were canceled by their promoter.

“Palestinians welcome the cancellation of Jonny Greenwood and Dudu Tassa’s concert, which was due to take place in Bristol, UK on the 23rd June and would have whitewashed Israel’s genocide against 2.3m Palestinians in Gaza and underlying settler-colonial apartheid regime,” the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel said in a post on X after the first cancelation.

The group reiterated its “call for all venues to refuse to program this complicit event that can only artwash genocide” after the second gig was canceled.

Israel denies it is carrying out a genocide in Gaza, saying that its military operations are targeting the Hamas terror group, which led the October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel, when invaders killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages to Gaza.

UPDATE: Jonny Greenwood and Dudu Tassa's show at Hackney Church has also been cancelled. Palestinians welcome the cancellation of both of their UK shows. We reiterate our call for all venues to refuse to programme this complicit event that can only artwash genocide. https://t.co/ne2TDXCKds

— PACBI – BDS movement (@PACBI) May 2, 2025

Jonathan Turner, the chief executive of UK Lawyers for Israel, told The Telegraph that “the cancellations are probably in breach of contract and appear to contravene section 29 of the Equality Act by subjecting these musicians to detriment because of their association with Israelis.”

A spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism told the daily that the pressure by anti-Israel activists “isn’t activism, it’s intimidation,” adding they simply sought to “punish anyone who dares to engage with” the Jewish state.

“More than four-fifths (84 per cent) of British Jews agree that boycotts of Israeli artists, academics or businesses selling Israeli products constitute intimidation, according to our representative polling,” the spokesman added. “Event organisers acquiescing to fanatics obsessed with Israel should bear in mind that tactics like these do nothing to bring peace to the Middle East.”

“They only disrupt the lives of people in Britain. Venues must not capitulate to pressure campaigns seeking to bully those simply for standing with the world’s only Jewish state.”

British rock band Radiohead performs in Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park on July 19, 2017. (Courtesy)

Greenwood partnered on a 2023 album with Tassa, along with artists throughout the Middle East, including Palestinian singer Freteikh, Egyptian singer Ahmed Doma and Moroccan singer Mohssine Salaheddine. Greenwood pushed back against critics who urged him last year to cancel a planned tour with Tassa in Europe due to the ongoing war.

He is married to Israeli visual artist Sharona Katan, who has said the family identifies as Jewish.

Radiohead, which has won several Grammy Awards and sold millions of records since the 1990s, has been the target of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, especially in the lead-up to its 2017 concert in Tel Aviv. In response, lead singer Thom Yorke called BDS protesters “offensive” and “patronizing.”

The BDS campaign advocates boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israeli businesses, universities and artists. Supporters say BDS is a nonviolent movement for Palestinian independence. Israel and its supporters say the movement aims to delegitimize and eradicate the Jewish state, and it has been condemned by many as antisemitic and discriminatory.

JTA contributed to this report.