Macy Gray’s Amazing Disgrace

Yes, this may indeed be a provocative and unfriendly title – but I personally think that she had that one coming. Macy Gray today sent the following message on her Twitter:

“Dear Israel fans. Me and the band will be there in 20 days. Can’t wait. See you then. Peace.”

How terribly disappointing.

Only one day before, she had posed the following question to her fans on her Facebook page:

“I’m booked for 2 shows in TelAviv. I’m getting alot of letters from activists urging/begging me to boycott by NOT performing in protest of Apartheid against the Palestinians. What the Israeli government is doing to the Palestinians is disgusting, but I wana go. I gott…a lotta fans there I dont want to cancel on and I dont know how my NOT going changes anything. What do you think? Stay or go?“

It appears that Macy Gray has made up her mind, after having ‘consulted’ her fans. At the time of writing, there had already been 3,628 responses to her message. There is an overwhelming activity of pro-Israel propagandists in the discussion, who are famous for mobilizing their ilk on the internet in a very fast and efficient way. Nevertheless, there is also a strong presence of Palestine supporters, who have written some very penetrating and challenging statements, urging Macy Gray to cancel her Israel gigs.

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My own contribution there was as follows:

“Dear Macy, NOT going changes something very important – you will have made a difference in your own life by choosing to take a strong stance against racism. Do you still doubt that Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians is racism…? You know,… and all the world knows, that there is no place in the world where racism is as widespread and institutionalized as in zionist Israel. If you still have doubts, ask Desmond Tutu, he is very well-informed about Apartheid and about the Israeli version of it.

You may think that that is not a lot, but to me and my people – the Palestinians – you NOT going makes a huge difference. Don’t underestimate the importance of making such a step, and don’t underestimate your own importance.“

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Also on her Twitter, Macy writes (after having made the decision posted above): “See I’m willing to listen – really listen – but some of you so called boycotters are just assholes.” This comment is quite telling: if you visit the Facebook fan page and read the comments, you will be amazed that the thousands of nauseating and hysterical polemics posted by zionists there apparently do not earn them being labeled by Macy as ‘assholes’.

In the mean time, Macy’s open question about the boycott already has caused some publicity, with Ha’aretz giving it ample attention in an article dedicated to her Facebook page question. I guess it’s good for publicity to seek controversy, especially if you haven’t had a hit in a long time …

While all supporters of justice and human rights can and will quickly acknowledge that Macy is a step ahead of some others by placing that question on her Facebook page at all, no BDS victory can be recorded if she sticks to her decision not to cancel the concert. In fact, it may have an adverse effect on other artists wrestling with the issue, since it may be taken as an example of having studied the matter seriously, and having come to a well-founded conclusion.

Imagine someone taking out his wallet in the middle of a hunger-ridden slum and taking a bundle of dollars halfway out, in a gesture that seems to indicate a willingness to explore the idea of giving charity – and then pushing the money back in, and putting the wallet back in a safe place.

Sure – we may state that such a person at least has some consideration, since the gesture means he acknowledges the existing needs of the population. But what good does it do, if that person doesn’t ‘put his money where his mouth is’? And what if there happened to be some photographing journalists on the spot when the wallet was taken out, would we still consider it to be to the person’s credit that he pondered making a donation?

I doubt that anyone would consider the person in the example a lighting example of charity. On that same basis, we may now conclude that Macy Gray is not really an involved artist who has an eye for oppression and racism – even though she sure gave us a short-lived impression that she might be just that. If she sticks to her Twittered decision, we can safely finalize this conclusion.

But let’s keep the vibe positive, and grace those who challenge Israeli Apartheid rather than blacklist those who don’t. That, for now, is my message – although privately as a Palestinian, acts like these leave a bitter aftertaste, and it will not be easy for me to listen to songs by these artists without remembering that they let our people down.