Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood Says Silencing Israeli Artists 'Feels Unprogressive to Me'

Multi-instrumentalist composer Jonny Greenwood, best known as a member of Radiohead and spinoff project The Smile, took to X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday (June 4) to explain why he's touring this summer with Israeli musician Dudu Tassa and the Kuwaitis.

Greenwood's message comes at a time when Palestinian protesters are calling for boycotts of seemingly anything having to do with Israel due to the country's military action in Gaza following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas.

"I've been collaborating with Dudu and releasing music with him since 2008 - and working privately long before that," Greenwood writes. "I think an artistic project that combines Arab and Jewish musicians is worthwhile. 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."

In the post Greenwood goes on to write that the tour involves "musicians for 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."

Later in his post, Greenwood addresses those calling for boycotts of such projects.

"Others choose to believe this kind of project is unjustifiable, and are urging silencing of this - or any - artistic effort made by Israeli Jews. But I can't join that call: the silencing of Israeli film makers/ usicians/ ancers 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 expressed gratitude for the musicians involved in the project, who he said are "much braver - and taking far more of a principled risk - than those who are trying to shut us down."

While he added that "no art is as 'important' as stopping all the death and suffering around us...doing nothing seems like 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."

While Greenwood didn't mention this in his post, Radiohead's earliest success was in Israel, when a DJ there began playing "Creep" in late 1992 and it became a national hit there. Radiohead has also continued to perform in Israel over the years and Greenwood was on hand on May 26 for a gig with Dudu Tassa in Tel Aviv that called for the hostages to be released and new elections in Israel, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Greenwood's wife, artist Sharona Katan, is Israeli, and her family recently lost a nephew drafted by the IDF after the Israel-Hamas war broke out.

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Radiohead, Jonny Greenwood