There is something incredibly frustrating about the fact that the Red Hot Chili Peppers played a concert in Israel, ignoring international pleas for them to cancel and observe the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS).
Admittedly, I wasn鈥檛 even quite aware of just how much their decision stung until the day after their appearance at the Pic.Nic festival in Tel Aviv.
It was then that I took a bit of a trip down memory lane. If I鈥檓 honest with myself, the Chili Peppers haven鈥檛 really been my thing for quite some time. Nowadays they seem to fit all too comfortably with the slick, mega-marketing scheme of turning rebellion into money that the music industry has honed so well.
It鈥檚 only after giving it some real thought that one remembers an entirely different era that Anthony Kiedis, Flea and company were a part of. That was the late '80s and early '90s, which no less a figure than Rock & Rap Confidential鈥檚 Lee Ballinger called the most exciting period for record making in 25 years.
Just to be clear, Ballinger wasn鈥檛 talking about hair metal or empty, sugary synth-pop, both of which had more or less run their course by this time. He was talking about the rise of grunge and alternative music around '91, the emergence of hip-hop as a cultural force, and scenes like those in Los Angeles starting around '86.
It was here that punks, surfers, headbangers and hip-hop heads started to collide, creating some truly unique music: Fishbone, Suicidal Tendencies, Rage Against the Machine, and yes, the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
All mixed a potent blend of metal, punk rock, rap and funk 鈥 crossing racial and cultural barriers in doing so. We should be clear, in the age of a rising war on drugs (which would devastate poor communities of colour, particularly in LA) and South African apartheid鈥檚 final days, creating music like this was a radical act.
The Chili Peppers might not have been the most political of this scene in their early days, but neither were they a total exception.
It wasn鈥檛 for nothing that one of their first break-out hits was their cover of Stevie Wonder鈥檚 鈥淗igher Ground鈥. Blood Sugar Sex Magik, released in 1991 and rightly regarded as the album that cemented their status among rock鈥檚 best, included such tracks as 鈥淧ower of Equality鈥.
They were also involved in a great amount of progressive advocacy and activism during these years, playing benefits for Rock 4 Choice and speaking out against the fundamentalist Christian censorship brigades that emerged in the form of the Parental Music Resource Foundation.
And, of course, they never played in apartheid South Africa. Once again, in the midst of Reagan and Bush the First鈥檚 America, these stances went against the grain in a big way.
What the hell happened, then? How is it that this band, springing from the dynamic, multiracial, instinctively anti-racist scene that they did, ended up playing for an apartheid state?
Moreover, how could they do so even as Israel鈥檚 actions become more brazenly racist by the day 鈥 as police turn a blind eye to anti-Arab lynch mobs and as anti-African pogroms are carried out?
I have heard some, in more informal settings, chalk it up to the fact that the band鈥檚 late guitarist Hillel Slovak (to whom 鈥淯nder the Bridge鈥 is dedicated) was himself an Israeli-American Jew. This doesn鈥檛 pass muster. As any supporter of BDS will know, there are plenty of anti-Zionist Jews out there. This includes a small but significant number of those born in historic Palestine or present-day Israel who are horrified by Israel鈥檚 actions. Slovak died over 20 years ago, and we have no way of knowing how his political ideas may have been shaped.
Far more likely is the way in which the political, economic, and cultural landscape has drastically shifted since the Chili Peppers first emerged on the scene. In the late '80s and early '鈥90s, federal regulations prevented television and radio from being so frightfully consolidated as they now are.
DJs and artists alike were still able to speak their mind on a host of political issues; though record and communications execs may not have liked it, they weren鈥檛 really able to do much about it.
This was coupled with the fact that there were such things as a strong anti-apartheid movement back then 鈥 a movement that, in some ways, represented a last hurrah for powerful social movements that were forced into decline by the ascent of neoliberalism. In short, the grip of 鈥渢he industry鈥 was notably looser, while the space created by the left was greater. Back then, it was possible for songs like 鈥淪un City鈥 鈥 which urged musicians to shun South Africa 鈥 to make it onto MTV and radio. Today, the possibilities are much, much narrower.
Over the summer, Punks Against Apartheid was among the many groups and collectives that openly called for the Chili Peppers to cancel. In doing so, we specifically appealed to the group鈥檚 artistic and social legacy: 鈥淸W]hile some in the mainstream may have forgotten this history 鈥 scratching their heads at why a bunch of no-good punks would bother with a band as commercial as the Chili Peppers 鈥 we have not, and we intend to remind you and your fans of these roots.
鈥淏ecause your proximity to punk as a band should have put you in touch with the best tendencies of rebel music, of music as a form of resistant community 鈥 and that is something to be cherished, not to be rejected by playing in Israel.
鈥淏y doing so, you would be, in the words of the Israeli group Boycott from Within, serving 鈥榯he government鈥檚 agenda of whitewashing its war crimes and creating an image of Israel as a 鈥渕odern state鈥.鈥欌
One of Boycott from Within鈥檚 own members, Tali Shapiro, also wrote a piece explaining how out of joint the Chili Peppers鈥 decision is, even with their present political stances: 鈥淚n the past four months, I鈥檝e taken a visible role in the campaign to get the Red Hot Chili Peppers to cancel their concert in Israel. A campaign which grew to almost 8000 signatures, more than a dozen letters from organizations around the globe, and managed to get support from other celebrities.
鈥淔ollowing the band closely, on their current world tour, we鈥檝e seen that it goes beyond the music to support causes it believes in. Be it Trayvon Martin, Pussy Riot, or Captain Paul Watson, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, recognizing their public status, have made a conscious choice to raise awareness about something other than themselves.鈥
This, in some ways, is where the window of hope gets opened a bit. The social movements that were on the decline in the 鈥80s appear to be on the ascendancy again. The political winds are shifting.
Case in point: the very day that the Chili Peppers played their Tel Aviv show, there was a strike of transport workers that paralysed the West Bank in protest against the Palestinian Authority鈥檚 complicity with Israel.
This was significant enough in itself, but it鈥檚 important to point out that September 10 was also the first day of the Chicago teachers鈥 strike. In New York City, one demonstrator in solidarity with the teachers carried a sign that made connections between the two strikes. It鈥檚 a sentiment no doubt shared by a growing number of people.
It is also telling that many in the BDS movement are declaring the campaign around the Chili Peppers to be at least a partial success. Much like Madonna鈥檚 May performance in Tel Aviv, the Red Hot Chili Peppers couldn鈥檛 seem to shake the BDS campaign wherever they went.
Not only were there open letters, but frequently the true nature of culture in the state of Israel as propaganda was exposed for what it is.
And then, of course, there was the cancellation of the Chili Peppers鈥 opening act, Mashrou鈥 Leila of Lebanon, two days shy of their gig in Beirut. Mashrou鈥 Leila鈥檚 cancellation 鈥 especially as it was only about a week before the Pic.Nic performance 鈥 had the effect of cementing the awareness that the Chili Peppers were, ultimately, crossing a picket line.
Perhaps the most prescient lesson from the campaign around the Chili Peppers is one rather similar to the experience around Madonna. During the call for the queen of pop to cancel her Tel Aviv performance, BDS activists worked tirelessly to make sure the truth followed her around wherever she went.
The Chili Peppers, despite their own refusal to even acknowledge the BDS campaign, couldn鈥檛 escape the truth either. This was in no short order due to the efforts of activists again, but the past several weeks have also seen an increased upsurge of attention to the Middle East.
From the general strike in the West Bank to the rebellions against an Islamophobic film to the controversy over Pamela Geller鈥檚 insufferably racist transit ads, the world really did seem to be showing us the full extent of the Western empire鈥檚 racism.
And here were the Red Hot Chili Peppers, holding up a central pillar of this empire. After speaking out for Trayvon Martin and Pussy Riot, completely ignoring the fact that it鈥檚 all the same system.
You didn鈥檛 need a doctorate in foreign policy to see this for what it was. None of this is to say that activists merely have to let the truth do the work for us, but it is worth remembering, in the fevered frenzy of constant campaigning, that ultimately it鈥檚 just this that we have on our side 鈥 the truth.
It鈥檚 precisely this that puts building a large, global anti-apartheid movement back on the agenda. Any artist who forgets this 鈥 as the Chili Peppers unfortunately have to some degree 鈥 is bound to be left behind by the rest of the world.
When the times change, you鈥檇 better change with them. I think Dylan had something to say about those who don鈥檛.
[This article first appeared at Alexander Billet maintains the website .]