Snoop Cancels Show in Israel

After receiving pressure from both sides, rap legend Snoop Dogg canceled his September show in Israel. He cited contractual differences, according to YNet News.

The concert was initially scheduled to take place in Ramat Gan. The city was built on the ruins of the Palestinian village of Salama (Arabic: سلمة), whose 7,807 Palestinian residents were ethnically cleansed on April 25th, 1948 by Zionist militias -- three weeks before the State of Israel came into existence and the surrounding Arab armies attacked. The residents of this village were among the more than 700,000 Palestinians ethnically cleaned from their homeland in 1948.

The concert was however moved later to Rishon Lezion, a city that began as a Zionist settlement in 1882.

The campaign asking Snoop to not perform in Israel is part of a larger movement calling for a boycott. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and small Israeli groups were the first to write letters to Snoop.

American activists soon followed. One Palestinian solidarity activist wrote in a letter to Snoop:

Because of its support, many artists respecting the boycott of Apartheid South Africa also boycotted Israel at the time, including Bob Marley. Today, many prominent South Africans are asking artists to boycott Apartheid Israel.

Hip-hop is growing among disenfranchised and dispossessed Palestinian youth who have been inspired by your lyrics and the lyrics of other African-American rappers against racism and injustice. These Palestinian artists, be they MCs, DJs, breakers or graffiti artists, live under constant threat of death and arrest at the hands of the Israeli army and many, particularly in the West Bank and Gaza find it nearly impossible to attend shows or tour because they are confined to their neighborhoods and cities by checkpoints and walls. It is doubtful that many Palestinians, for example, would be able to attend your show in Ramat Gan because of Israel’s racism. Only the few Palestinians with Israeli citizenship will attend. Most Palestinians live under occupation and have no citizenship rights at all – they will be banned from attending your show.

Such pressure campaigns are necessary since the world's powers seem to have no antidote for Israel's brutal occupation -- the United States actively supports it. That is why an organic movement is needed. And too many around the world are fed up with Israeli immunity and the cycle of violence its policies generate.