The anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement on Wednesday called for a boycott of Radiohead after the British group announced its first tour in seven years, accusing the band of “silence” amid the war in Gaza and citing one of its members’ ties to Israeli artist Dudu Tassa.
“Last year, we got together to rehearse, just for the hell of it,” drummer Philip Selway said 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 by the movement 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 said.
Fans can register to buy tickets for Radiohead’s tour from Friday.
Greenwood, who is married to Israeli artist Sharona Kata, has a long collaboration with Israeli musician Tassa. In May, the two canceled shows in the UK due to what they said were credible threats against the venues and audiences.
The BDS movement, which has long targeted the band, claimed the cancellations as a victory, reiterating its “call for all venues to refuse to program this complicit event that can only artwash genocide” after the second gig was canceled.
In response to criticism of its 2017 concert in Tel Aviv, Yorke called BDS protesters “offensive and patronizing.”
Last October, a year following the October 7 Hamas-led terror massacre that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, Yorke clashed with an anti-Israel heckler before storming offstage at a concert in Melbourne, Australia.
Yorke was nearing the end of his solo show when a protester began yelling about the Jewish state.
Months later, in a post on Instagram, he slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as “extremist” as well as Hamas as “cynical.”
Radiohead last performed in 2018, in support of its last album, 2016’s “A Moon Shaped Pool.” It is unclear if the band is preparing a new release of original material, but earlier this month, it did announce a new live album, “Hail to the Thief — Live Recordings 2003-2009,” arriving October 31.
In the years since their last live performance, the members of Radiohead have been busy. Yorke and Greenwood’s art rock spinoff project, The Smile, has released three albums. Colin Greenwood joined Nick Cave’s live band. O’Brien released his debut solo album, “Earth,” in 2020, and in 2023, Selway released his third solo album, “Strange Dance.”