Ringo Starr will perform two shows in Israel later this year in defiance of the anti-Israel BDS movement that calls for the complete isolation of the Jewish State.
The former Beatle made the announcement on his personal website. It comes just a week after New Zealand singer Lorde cancelled her planned Tel Aviv concert after a vocal campaign by Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activists.
Ringo has chosen a band that includes fellow rock legends Steve Lukather of Toto, Greg Rollie of Journey and Graham Gouldman of 10cc as the All-Starrs. The two shows are booked for Tel Aviv’s Menorah Mivtahim Arena on June 23 and 24.
The visit comes 52 years after The Beatles were originally scheduled to perform in Israel in 1966 – but were turned away by the government of the day who deemed them to be a “bad influence” on Israeli youth.
As Breitbart Jerusalem reported, Starr is going ahead with his visit where others have feared to tread, notably Lorde and Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters, who remains one of the most vocal anti-Israel celebrities in entertainment.
Other artists have gone ahead with concerts in the country, including Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Radiohead, and Sir Paul McCartney, the latter having disregarded death threats to play to an audience of 400,000 people in Tel Aviv in 2008.
In June, Radiohead singer Thom Yorke fired back after Waters and other pro-BDS activists attempted to pressure the group into cancelling their concert.
“It’s deeply disrespectful to assume that we’re either being misinformed or that we’re so retarded we can’t make these decisions ourselves,” Yorke said. “I thought it was patronizing in the extreme. It’s offensive and I just can’t understand why going to play a rock show or going to lecture at a university [is a problem to them].”
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