Spanish Music Festival Drops Jewish Reggae Rapper

JERUSALEM, Israel -- An American Jewish rapper was dropped from a Spanish music festival because he refused to endorse the sponsor's position on a Palestinian state.

Unrelenting pressure from the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement convinced Filippo Giunta, director of the Rototom Sunsplash festival, to cancel Jewish musician Matisyahu's August 22 appearance, replacing him with Jamaican artist Etana.

Festival organizers said they decided to find out the singer's position on Zionism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after boycott threats by five of 250 artists scheduled to perform at the festival.

Following their initial inquiry, the organizers issued a statement Tuesday saying they would not "exclude" Matisyahu from the festival because he's not a political activist and doesn't bring "his personal views to his performances or song lyrics," the Jerusalem Post reported.

Four days later they changed their minds when the Jewish rap star was unwilling to condemn last summer's Gaza war or to endorse an independent Palestinian state.

World Jewish Congress President Ron Lauder called the decision "a clear instance of anti-Semitism and nothing else, urging Spanish authorities "to condemn this sad incident and take appropriate action against those responsible for it."

"Matisyahu is an American Jew," Lauder said in a statement posted on the WJC website. "More importantly, like everybody else in a free and democratic society, he not only has a right to express his views -- whether you agree with them or not -- but he also has every right not have the repugnant views of the festival organizers imposed on him. He is a musician who has been denied the opportunity to play his planned gig at a European reggae festival purely because he is Jewish and because he refuses to side with the vicious and bigoted BDS movement."

Lauder also had a message for the Spanish people.

"And to the people of Spain, I say this: Being a 'Zionist' and supporting Israel has nothing to do with supporting apartheid. Rather it is about supporting democracy, the rule of law, freedom, openness and diversity," he said.

Lauder urged the festival's sponsors to think long and hard about supporting the event.

"The Rototom Sunsplash festival benefits from financial support from public authorities. I very much hope that they will convey a clear message to the organizers that either they re-invite Matisyahu and apologize for their outrageous behavior or they pay back that financial aid because anti-Semitism and racism must not be rewarded by public support -- not in Spain and not anywhere else."

The WJC's Spanish affiliate, the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain, also condemned the decision, calling it "cowardly, unjust and discriminatory" and saying the BDS movement used "its entire anti-Semitic arsenal" against Matisyahu's participation in the festival.

"It is noteworthy that the festival is not interested in the opinions of other participants on policies of Iran, the Islamic State, Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah," the FJCS said in a statement.

Born Matthew Paul Miller in Pennsylvania, Matisyahu, 36, released his first album, "Shake Off the Dust" in 2004. He began his career as a Hassidic hip-hop star, later shedding that identity for a more secular style.