text: Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood said on Tuesday that he rejects “unprogressive” efforts by supporters of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel to “silence” Israeli artists after the British musician was criticized and threatened for collaborating with Israeli Mizrahi singer Dudu Tassa.
  Greenwood is performing at festivals across Europe this summer with Dudu Tassa and the Kuwaitis, an Israeli band that opened Coachella in 2017 and was Radiohead’s opening act for their spring tour in the US that same year. Greenwood released an album with Tassa last year titled “Jarak Qaribak,” featuring musicians from across the Middle East. Tassa is of Iraqi, Jewish, and Yemeni descent and has been collaborating musically with Greenwood since 2008. The duo performed in Israel together in late May and their concert was condemned by BDS supporters, who also said that Greenwood and Radiohead will face “grassroots measures” if they do not stop supporting Israel.
  In a released statement on Tuesday, Greenwood said BDS supporters will not deter him from continuing to collaborate with Tassa and other Middle Eastern musicians.
  “I think an artistic project that combines Arab and Jewish musicians is worthwhile,” explained the British musician. “And one that reminds everyone that the Jewish cultural roots in countries like Iraq and Yemen go back for thousands of years, is also important. It’s just musicians from all over the Middle East having mutual respect for each other, working together across borders, and sharing our love for the long catalogue of Arabic songs — whether they were written by Muslim, Jewish, or Christian composers. Others choose to believe this kind of project is unjustifiable, and are urging the silencing of this — or any — artistic effort made by Israeli Jews. But I can’t join that call.”
  The award-winning composer, who is married to Israeli visual artist Sharona Katan, added that “the silencing of Israeli film makers / musicians / dancers when their work tours abroad — especially when it’s at the urging of their fellow Western film makers/musicians/artists — feels unprogressive to me. Not least because it’s these people that are invariably the most progressive members of any society.”
  Greenwood also reminded people that Tassa is the grandson of Jewish Kuwaiti musician Daoud Al-Kuwaiti, one half of the legendary Al Kuwaity Brothers, whose songs became famous in the Arabic world between the 1930s and 1950s and remain popular today. “The Al-Kuwaiti Brothers were among the greatest composers and musicians in Baghdad during the first half of the 20th century, considered innovators and creators of modern Iraqi music, who also helped to establish Baghdad’s original broadcasting authority,” according to the official website of Dudu Tassa and the Kuwaitis.
  Greenwood said he is “grateful” to be able to work with a variety of musicians from different backgrounds, like Dudu Tassa and the Kuwaitis, “all of whom strike me as much braver — and taking far more of a principled risk — than those who are trying to shut us down, or who are now attempting to ascribe a sinister ulterior motivation to the band’s existence.”
  “We are musicians honoring a shared culture, and I’ve been involved in this for nearly 20 years now,” he added. “No art is as ‘important’ as stopping all the death and suffering around us. How can it be? But doing nothing seems a worse option. And silencing Israeli artists for being born Jewish in Israel doesn’t seem like any way to reach an understanding between the two sides of this apparently endless conflict. So: that’s why I’m making music with this band. You’re welcome to disagree with, or ignore, what we do — but I hope you now understand what the true motivation is, and can react to the music without suspicion or hate.”
  Greenwood has no plans to go on tour with Radiohead anytime soon. The band’s lead singer, Thom Yorke, announced on Monday that he will embark on a rare solo tour this fall, starting Oct. 23 in New Zealand and ending Nov. 26 in Japan.
  Iran Foreign Minister Denies Plot to Kill Trump, Urges Confidence-Building with US
  Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi denied US charges that Tehran was linked to an alleged plot to kill Donald Trump and called on Saturday for confidence-building between the two hostile countries.
  “Now … a new scenario is fabricated … as a killer does not exist in reality, scriptwriters are brought in to manufacture a third-rate comedy,” Araqchi said in a post on X.
  He was referring to the alleged plot which Washington said was ordered by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards to assassinate Trump, who won Tuesday’s presidential election and takes office in January.
  “The American people have made their decision. And Iran respects their right to elect the President of their choice. The path forward is also a choice. It begins with respect,” Araqchi said.
  “Iran is NOT after nuclear weapons, period. This is a policy based on Islamic teachings and our security calculations. Confidence-building is needed from both sides. It is not a one-way street,” he added.
  Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said earlier that the claim was a “repulsive” plot by Israel and the Iranian opposition outside the country to “complicate matters between America and Iran.”
  Iranian analysts and insiders have not dismissed the possibility of a detente between Tehran and Washington under Trump, although without restoring diplomatic ties.
  “Iran will act based on its own interests. It is possible that secret talks between Tehran and Washington take place. If security threats against the Islamic Republic are removed, anything is possible,” Tehran-based analyst Saeed Laylaz said this week.
  While facing off against arch-foe Israel, Iran’s clerical leadership is also concerned about the possibility of an all-out war in the region, where Israel is engaged in conflicts with Tehran’s allies in Gaza and Lebanon.
  The post Iran Foreign Minister Denies Plot to Kill Trump, Urges Confidence-Building with US first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
  Evidence from WhatsApp, Telegram Groups Shows Amsterdam Pogrom Was Organized
  i24 News – Screenshots of electronic messages on WhatsApp and Telegram obtained by the Daily Telegraph show that the attacks on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam represent a planned and organized pogrom.
  One message sent to a Dutch-language WhatsApp group the day before Thursday night’s violent outbursts reads “tomorrow after the game, at night, part 2 of the Jew Hunt. Tomorrow we work them.”
  Another message reads “who can sort fireworks? We need a lot of fireworks.” The pro-Palestinian activists refer to “cancer dogs,” an insult considered particularly vile in Holland.
  The lackluster response of Dutch authorities was noted by many.
  Dutch king Willem-Alexander reportedly said to Israel’s President Isaac Herzog in a phone call on Friday morning that “we failed the Jewish community of the Netherlands during World War II, and last night we failed again.”
  The post Evidence from WhatsApp, Telegram Groups Shows Amsterdam Pogrom Was Organized first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
  Qatar to End Gaza-Ceasefire Mediation: Report
  JNS.org – Qatar will end its role as a mediator between Hamas and Israel in pursuit of a Gaza-ceasefire and hostage-release deal, an official “briefed on the matter” told Reuters on Saturday.
  “The Qataris have said since the start of the conflict that they can only mediate when both parties demonstrate a genuine interest in finding a resolution,” the official added, according to Reuters.
  Since diplomatic negotiations have not yielded fruitful results for months, the Gulf state concluded that Hamas’s political office in Doha “no longer serves its purpose,” the official was cited as saying.
  These statements come in the wake of a Reuters report on Friday, according to which a senior US official told the outlet: “After rejecting repeated proposals to release hostages, [Hamas’s] leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any American partner. We made that clear to Qatar following Hamas’s rejection weeks ago of another hostage release proposal.”
  Doha passed on the message to Hamas around 10 days ago, the official said, adding that the United States was monitoring the situation and pressuring Qatar to close Hamas’s political office.
  The last talks intermediated by Qatar broke down in mid-October, after a series of attempts to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and a deal that would swap Palestinian prisoners with the remaining 101 Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
  Qatar’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request by Reuters for a comment, though three Hamas officials denied they were being expelled from the Gulf state.
  Qatar, a major American ally, which senior US officials frequently thank for its role in negotiating on behalf of Hamas in ongoing efforts to broker a ceasefire and hostage-release deal, has long harbored Khaled Mashaal, Hamas’s acting political leader.
  At a press conference late last month, JNS asked State Department spokesman Matthew Miller why Washington wasn’t pressuring Qatar to push Mashaal into a deal, given that the terror leader is a guest in the Gulf state.
  Miller cited the prior “tireless efforts” and “intense focus” of Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani to try to seal an agreement.
  “They have a channel with Hamas that is productive for trying to reach this agreement,” Miller said. “The fact is it’s Hamas that holds the hostages, and so it’s Hamas with whom they have to negotiate.”
  In September, the US Justice Department unsealed charges against Mashaal for his role in orchestrating the Oct. 7 attacks.
  In a press release, the Justice Department declared, “On Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists, led by these defendants, murdered nearly 1,200 people, including over 40 Americans, and kidnapped hundreds of civilians… The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’s operations. These actions will not be our last.”
  Doha has welcomed Hamas officials since 2012 as part of an agreement with Washington.
  On Friday, 14 Republican senators called on the State Department to immediately freeze assets of Hamas leaders living in Qatar. The senators also urged the Biden administration to ask Doha to “end its hospitality to Hamas’s senior leadership.”
  Al Thani has reiterated his position since Oct. 7 that Hamas’s presence in his country is contingent on the usefulness of the ongoing negotiations.
  According to Israel’s Channel 12 News, a senior official in Jerusalem lauded Doha’s decision, saying that “Israel and the United States have pressured Qatar’s leaders not to host Hamas seniors [in their country] for a long time. It is good that Hamas, which is nothing but a murderous terrorist group, will be persecuted everywhere in the world and not welcomed by any country.”