Neil Young's (Non-) Mideast Vacation: Stop Sniffin' That Smokin' Gun

"Stop Sniffin' That Smokin' Gun"

As noted, Neil Young was scheduled to perform in Tel-Aviv, Israel tonight, however the concert has been canceled due to the ongoing "tensions".

All of the surrounding controversy and aftermath has led to Neil Young's Donates To Coexistence Music Following Israel Concert Cancellation. Upon which we heard the following from Phil who said...

This is deeply unimpressive.

What was the plan?

His management having made the mega-faux-pas of including Israel in a ‘European’ tour, he thought he’d stay quiet, go with it and slip in a cheeky ‘free the people of Palestine’ half-way through a song when he got to the Apartheid state?

This is the charitable interpretation. And if that was the idea, it was extraordinarily naive. The damage done by an artist of Neil’s stature and known views on human rights playing for the Israeli genocidists far outweighs the benefits of a stealth chorus line, even if he had the courage to do it. If he believes in freedom for Palestine let him say so openly and apologise for the huge capital the ethnic cleansers have made out of his silence.

In their quest to exterminate an entire people on the basis of their race, the Israelis are currently murdering as many Palestinian children as they can. Neil can’t undo the damage he has done by simply tossing money at people (and how typically North American is that?).

Congratulations to the magnificent people of Liverpool who demonstrated their solidarity with the Palestinians outside Neil’s concert. What an example to the people on the stage, whose silence was louder than their guitars.

Thanks Phil for the measured comment. Appreciated. Here's where we're at. The net outcome on this is +/- 0. No change.

And here's why. Neil certainly didn't make the decision to play Israel lightly. He was going in eyes open.

But we'll never know what would've happened at concert. If he played his regular set and walked off with only a "Thank You Tel Aviv!" then folks when have all sorts of conclusions. fine.

But supposed Neil ripped the most ferocious version of Rockin in the Free World and made some lyric changes? Maybe some rather pointed lyric adjustments?

What then? If there's anywhere in the world that needs to hear song of peace & love, it's the Mideast.

So here's a Mideast Vacation for you...

As Neil sings "Stop Sniffin' That Smokin' Gun". Stay passionate. peace

Neil Young with Crazy Horse performed "Mideast Vacation" from 1987's Life at the Bridge School Benefit concert on Oct. 10, 2001. This marked Neil Young's 2nd post 9-11 performance (note NYFD hat) at the zeitgeist of 2000's paranoia.

The original key lyric "I went lookin' for Khaddafi [Libya's Muammar Gaddafi] Aboard Air Force One" was changed for the concert to "I went lookin' for Bin Laden aboard Air Force One".

So where does today's news leave Freedom v. 2014?

Are we celebrating the end of the Global War on Terror?

Or just getting ready for a repackaging of terror and the politics of fear into a kinder and gentler machine gun hand?

Well, just another song in a long line of Neil Young prophecies, 1986's "Mideast Vacation" captured at the zeigeist of 1980's paranoia.

"I went lookin' for Bin Laden aboard Air Force One"
But I never did find him
And the C.I.A. said Son,
You'll never be a hero
......Your flyin' days are done
It's time for you to go home now
Stop sniffin' that smokin' gun."

~~Neil Young, "Mideast Vacation, 1987

it's an angry world indeed,
peace


Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Rockin' in the Free World - Hyde Park - Live in London - July 12 2014

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Neil Young's Donates To Coexistence Music Following Israel Concert Cancellation

Neil Young
Hyde Park, London - July 12, 2014
Photo by Paolo Brillo | Facebook
(Click photo to enlarge)
Tonight, Neil Young was scheduled to perform in Tel-Aviv, Israel, however the concert has been canceled due to the ongoing "tensions". (We examined those tensions and the decision to perform in Israel earlier this month, when we posted on the whole issue of Neil Young's Upcoming Tel-Aviv, Israel Concert: "Don't Feel Like Satan But I Am To Them", which included background, context, reader comments and a poll.)

Upon cancellation, Young announced in a statement: “I will be making donations to both the Louise & Tillie Alpert Youth Music Center of Israel, and Heartbeat, two organizations that teach music to Palestinian and Israeli youth simultaneously by enabling them to play music together.”.

Young Arab and Jewish musicians from Heartbeat (Courtesy Instagram)

From Neil Young's heart of gold | The Times of Israel:

Beit Alpert was established by the Jerusalem Foundation in order to make music education available to all children. It now serves as the home to music ensembles of children from all over Jerusalem, including the Arab Youth Band and the Ensemble for Jewish & Arab Youth.

Liat Rosner, a spokesperson for the Jerusalem Foundation, said that neither the foundation nor Beit Alpert had heard about Neil Young’s planned donation.

At Heartbeat, an organization of Arab and Israeli youth ensembles, executive director Aaron Shneyer said he received an email on Monday from Oren Arnon, the head producer for concert promoter Shuki Weiss.

“He’s been extremely supportive and he’s promoted us on quite a few occasions,” said Shneyer.

Once the announcement was written up in Variety and Rolling Stone, Shneyer said he received many congratulatory messages.

“It’s very heartwarming,” he said. “It gives us a lot of encouragement and we’re extremely grateful to both Neil Young and to Crazy Horse for understanding this work of bringing together Palestinian and Israeli youth. We’re touched that he sees the importance of supporting our youth musicians’ effort to develop a powerful alternative to violence.”

Heartbeat has about 30 active musicians, most of them high school students, with an ensemble in Haifa and an ensemble in Jerusalem. There are also graduate bands; Zaatar is made up of Heartbeat musicians who have been playing together for several years and Shneyer hopes another band of recent graduates in Haifa will also step into “this ambassador role.”

“I hope we can turn up the volume,” he said.

Shneyer reflected on the last month as time of contemplation and reflection for Heartbeat participants.

“They’re speaking with each other, asking tough questions and we’re making sure the Heartbeat space can be a strong alternative to the status quo,” he said. “We’re trying to take it one step at a time.”

Donating to both Israeli and Palestinian charities shows true solidarity for not just one side of the Mideast crisis but for all of humanity. And these charities support music education in an area that truly needs to hear and play music for all of its many attendant benefits. Music -- now more than ever.

With Neil Young supporting so many worthy causes with his time, energy and music, is it any wonder that he is known as Neil Young: The Humanitarian Rebel With Causes???

Praying for peace yet we are Still Living With War.

namaste

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CANCELED: Neil Young's Upcoming Tel-Aviv, Israel Concert

Poll Taken ~Early July

UPDATE:

For Immediate Release:

NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE CANCEL CONCERT IN TEL AVIV

13th July, 2014 -- (BURBANK, CA) -- Due to the current security situation in Tel Aviv Israel, Neil Young & Crazy Horse have been forced to cancel their concert appearance originally scheduled for July 17th in Hayarkon Park.

A spokesperson for Young's camp said: "It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness that we must cancel our one and only Israeli concert due to tensions which have rendered the event unsafe at this time. We'll miss the opportunity to play for our fans and look forward to playing in Israel and Palestine in peace."

"I will be making donations to both the Louise Tillie Alpert Youth Music Centre of Israel, and Heartbeat", said Mr. Young, "two organizations that teach music to Palestinian and Israeli youth simultaneously by enabling them to play music together."

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Last night, at Neil Young & Crazy Horse's concert in Hyde Park, London during the opening song "Love And Only Love", Neil inserted the phrase "free the people of Palestine".

Only hours later, according to JPost.com, Neil Young's upcoming Tel-Aviv, Israel concert was canceled. The reason being cited is “The cancelation is due to the barrage of rockets that have been fired in recent days and the concern for the safety of an audience for such an event.”

Around the world, this announcement is being met by many with ridicule over the irony and unmitigated hypocrisy. Of course, anyone who isn't following the "mass media fear based propaganda matrix" knows this is a laughable excuse and that rockets are not pounding Tel Aviv and concert goers have little to worry about in terms of safety.

Earlier this month, we posted on the whole issue of Neil Young's Upcoming Tel-Aviv, Israel Concert: "Don't Feel Like Satan But I Am To Them", which included background, context, reader comments and a poll. The poll results are displayed above and clearly the majority of fans want the concert to go forward.

Roger Waters

Just prior to the cancellation notice, Roger Waters released Open Letter to Neil Young:

In light of the appalling recent events in Israel and Gaza and my dismay at the the lack of any response from our governments and in a final appeal to Neil's possible attachment to the rights of all human beings, not just the disenfranchised natives of North America, but all human beings all over the world, I am publishing that letter now.

Here it Is.

Dear Neil Young.

There are rumors flying about that you are considering doing shows in Tel Aviv this year.

The picket lines have been crossed in this last year by one or two lightweights from our community but no one of your stature. Woody Guthrie would turn in his grave. Neil Young! You are one of my biggest heroes, you are one of a very short list, you, John Lennon, Woody Guthrie, Huddy Ledbetter, Harry Belafonte, Sam Cooke, Billie Holiday and, like some others, but not many, your songs have always been redolent of love and humanity and compassion for your fellow man and woman. I find it hard to believe that you would turn your back on the indigenous people of Palestine. That you would lend support to, and encourage and legitimize, with your presence, a colonial apartheid regime, largely settled from Europe, that seeks to confine the native people of the land, either in exile or in second class status in reservations and ghettos.

Please, brother, tell me it ain't so.

As I recall, back in the day, along with the rest of us (Stevie van Zandt, Bruce, Led Zep etc etc etc etc) you would not "Play In Sun City" I am asking you to stand on the same moral ground now. The late, great, Nelson Mandela lives on in us, we cannot let him down. He was explicit in his position and I quote, " We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians". It is time for "Rock Against Racism" to show some of it's muscle by refusing to lend our names to the whitewashing of the illegal colonization of Palestinian land and the systematic oppression of its indigenous people. Unfortunately the opposition lobby has a lot of muscle too. They spend millions on their "Hasbara"(If like me you have no Hebrew)”Explaining” or to you and me "Propaganda". The propaganda machine is well oiled and ruthless. We, on the other hand, have only our commitment to non-violent resistance to lie down in front of the IDF caterpillar tractors that would raze the native people from the land of Palestine. We stand with those people, and with all the brave people of Israel and Palestine, Jewish and Arab alike who oppose The Israeli Governments brutal policies. We stand with Rachel Corrie, the young American woman who gave her life under the caterpillar's tracks. Please join me and countless other artists all over the world in solidarity with the oppressed and the disenfranchised. It is time to heed the peoples call. People like The Bedouin, the nomadic people of the Negev in the arid south of Israel, please research their plight, one village, Al-Araqib has been destroyed 63 times by IDF Bulldozers. If you are in doubt about any of this, I will go with you to Palestine, and Israel, if they’ll let me in, you will see what I have seen, and then let us figure out the right thing to do.

By the way I watched your Bridge School concert on YouTube last year, it was very moving, you were, of course magnificent. You had asked me to perform, and as I explained to your management, I would have gladly done so had I not already been committed to The Wall Tour in Europe and Stand Up For Heroes in New York. This year I will be pleased and proud to come and support you if you call.

With respect, and love.

Roger Waters.

Just an aside, but Roger don't hold your breath on the invite.

Back on subject, if ever there was a concert audience that needed to hear songs like Love And Only Love, Blowin' In The Wind, Rockin' In The Free World, among others, it was the audience this concert was intended.

So much for peace when music is just more "collateral damage".

On the other hand, maybe Neil will invite Roger to Bridge? Maybe re-schedule the Tel-Aviv, Israel concert for Shoreline? How about it?

Istanbul concert still on for now... likewise for Rolling Stones in Israel...

"Nobody's free until everybody's free."
~~ Fannie Lou Hamer

In the meantime, here's the original poll, flawed and outdated as it might be at this point...



So can't we all just keep on Rockin' In The Free World, O.K.?

Over 200 at today's Palestine demo outside Neil Young concert @ Liverpool Arena, strong words n strong singing #Gaza pic.twitter.com/lpT0pUimRc

— Jeremy Hawthorn (@jeremykopite) July 13, 2014

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