John Legend says those who deny injustice against Palestinians are willfully blind (with transcript)
John Legend, who was being interviewed together with Patrisse Cullors by Mehdi Hasan on The Intercept, in a discussion on the Justice System, showed no hesitation when Hasan asked him about the situation in Palestine. “It’s just a human position” … “It’s so obvious. Anybody who doesn’t believe that’s the case, are being willfully blind.” The discussion was published at the Intercept on February 15.
While under the Trump administration, a new American-Israeli ‘initiative’ named ‘The Deal of The Century’ aims to further consolidate Israel’s dominance over historical Palestine, under the ridiculously transparent disguise of some sort of ‘Peace Plan’, such mainstream voices have real significance.
The Musical Legend
John Legend, born as John Roger Stephens in 1978 in Springfield, Ohio, is a world famous American R&B/Soul singer, composer and producer. He has a number of world hits to his name, with All Of Me ending up as the best-selling single of 2014.
Legend has shown his involved and socially engaged side many times before, responding to the devastation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, campaigning for a village in Somalia, championing for sustainable development, and raising funds for the fight against HIV/AIDS, to name only a few.
The courage of speaking truth to power
In September 2019, he and his wife Chrissy Teigen engaged in a Twitter war with American President Donald Trump.
It’s not surprising to find a person who has such strong emotions about justice speaking out for Palestinian human rights. The reason why celebrities often prefer to choose silence doesn’t require much guesswork. They tend to pay a heavy price in American media when they embark on that path.
Transcript of John Legend’s words on Palestine
What follows here is a transcript of the interaction between Mehdi Hasan and John Legend on this topic. You can watch the full video here.
Mehdi Hasan: “John, you are one of the few celebrities – actual A-listers, if you don’t mind calling me that – who has linked the fight for human rights, civil liberties, the fight against detention, mass incarceration, here at home, to what’s been going on in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
How did you come to that position, where you’re on Bill Maher, and you say: “As progressives, we should also speak up for the human rights of Palestinians”. It’s not something we often hear from A-list musicians.”
John Legend: “I just feel like that’s a baseline human position. There should not be a whole group of people in a country, just because of their nationality or their religion, being held in open-air prisons, and denied freedom of movement, and having their land annexed by settlers and all these things. That’s just a human position. It’s not … I’m not an expert in this area, but …”
Mehdi Hasan: “You are one of the few, kind of very very famous people to have spoken out about it, that’s why…”
John Legend: Yeah, I think, it’s just … as someone who is observing what’s going on, and saying this is right or this is wrong, clearly that’s what’s happening to the Palestinians. It’s so obvious. Anybody who doesn’t believe that’s the case, are being willfully blind, I believe.“
Recent Comments