- Jeg ønsker ikke at musikken min skal bli forbundet med en politisk holdning, eller insinuere at tankene mine ikke er hos uskyldige som lider, bare fordi navnet mitt står på en konsertplakat.

Dette skriver Elvis Costello i en uttalelse på sin hjemmeside. Uttalelsen kommer i forbindelse med at artisten valgte å avlyse to kommende konserter som skulle funnet sted i Israel. Costello beklager, men forklarer avgjørelsen med at han noen ganger mener stillhet i musikk kan være på sin plass.

- Jeg velger å tro at publikum på de kommende konsertene ville ha inneholdt mange mennesker som stiller spørsmål ved deres regjerings politikk for en løsning, og de beklagelige forholdene som medfører skremsel, ydmykelse eller verre mot palestinske sivile i den nasjonale sikkerhets navn, forklarer Costello.

Elvis Costello er for tiden på sommer-turné, men så er det desverre ikke alle som skal få oppleve han på scenen denne sommeren. Han tror heller ikke det blir noen ny spillejobb i Israel med det første:
- Jeg kan ikke tenke meg at det kommer noen ny invitasjon for å få spille i Israel, hvilket er trist, men jeg kan forestille meg en bedre tid hvor ikke jeg ville trengt å skrive dette.

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Du kan lese hele uttalelsen her, hentet fra Elvis Costellos hjemmeside:
It is after considerable contemplation that I have lately arrived at the decision that I must withdraw from the two performances scheduled in Israel on the 30th of June and the 1st of July.

One lives in hope that music is more than mere noise, filling up idle time, whether intending to elate or lament.

Then there are occasions when merely having your name added to a concert schedule may be interpreted as a political act that resonates more than anything that might be sung and it may be assumed that one has no mind for the suffering of the innocent.

I must believe that the audience for the coming concerts would have contained many people who question the policies of their government on settlement and deplore conditions that visit intimidation, humiliation or much worse on Palestinian civilians in the name of national security.
I am also keenly aware of the sensitivity of these themes in the wake of so many despicable acts of violence perpetrated in the name of liberation.

Some will regard all of this an unknowable without personal experience but if these subjects are actually too grave and complex to be addressed in a concert, then it is also quite impossible to simply look the other way.

I offer my sincere apologies for any disappointment to the advance ticket holders as well as to the organizers.

My thanks also go to the members of the Israeli media with whom I had most rewarding and illuminating conversations. They may regard these exchanges as a waste of their time but they were of great value and help to me in gaining an appreciation of the cultural scene.

I hope it is possible to understand that I am not taking this decision lightly or so I may stand beneath any banner, nor is it one in which I imagine myself to possess any unique or eternal truth.

It is a matter of instinct and conscience.

It has been necessary to dial out the falsehoods of propaganda, the double game and hysterical language of politics, the vanity and self-righteousness of public communiqués from cranks in order to eventually sift through my own conflicted thoughts.

I have come to the following conclusions.

One must at least consider any rational argument that comes before the appeal of more desperate means.

Sometimes a silence in music is better than adding to the static and so an end to it.

I cannot imagine receiving another invitation to perform in Israel, which is a matter of regret but I can imagine a better time when I would not be writing this.

With the hope for peace and understanding. Elvis Costello

Tags: Elvis Costello, israel, konsertavlysning