Maine Jews For Palestine Turn Out To Educate Concert-Goers (& About A Zillion Cops)

Okay, a zillion is an exaggeration. But more than one person pointed out that last night would have been the perfect time to do a crime in Portland, Maine because every possible cop was at the entirely non-violent protest of a pro-Israel concert at the State Theater. I couldn't ever capture them all in one photo but here's a sampling. There were also vehicles full of cops parked around the intersection.

Per DSA's newsletter yesterday:

after receiving over a thousand letters asking them to cancel tonight's performance by Zionist and quintessentially wack rapper Matisyahu, management at the State Theater has failed to even respond. Matisyahu, who regularly brings out Israeli flags and praises the IDF while performing, has already had multiple shows canceled, but the State has failed to follow suit and deplatform this hateful zero-hit-wonder..

Join us as we..make sure attendees are well aware of the pro-genocide views of the guy they're about to see, which they will have to reckon with as they listen a guy that, even outside of his views, makes music that is frankly bad to the point of parody.

 

There were many good signs and banners used in last night's protest, and this was one of my favorites.

The performer is a worthy target to boycott. Among his many public statements on Israel and its ongoing genocide in Gaza, he was quoted in this article about other musicians urging a boycott:

"So I performed for the [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers. Does that make me racist, because I support the country of Israel?"

Matisyahu posted a video to his Instagram in January, showing him performing for the IDF's Golani Brigade as they prepared to invade Gaza.

"Good luck to my boys[sic] headed north," he posted. "It was an honor to breathe the same air as you tonight.

BDS is a strategy to bring economic pressure to bear on Israel and its supporters. So, the news that at least one concert-goer turned away last night after learning about the political views expressed by the performer was welcome, indeed. (And attendance seemed very small compared with crowds I've previously seen lined up to attend concerts at the State Theatre in the past.) From WMTW's coverage:

Mara Presti was going to the concert, but when she saw the protest and researched what the artist believed in, she changed her mind.

"We can't stand behind that," Presti said. "If he was truly all about peace then we could be there in earnestness, but given his stance, we can't."

Tonight should be interesting in Burlington, Vermont where another venue has refused to cancel a Matisyahu show despite hundreds of messages requesting that they do so. You may recall that in Burlington last Thanksgiving weekend three Palestinian college students wearing keffiyeh and chatting in Arabic were shot down in the street. 

Hisham Awartani (on the right) remains paralyzed from the neck down from his injury, incurred while walking to his grandmother's house for dinner. His childhood friends accompanying him, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad, were also injured in the attack by local resident Jason J. Eaton.

I have family duties or I'd be tempted to travel to Burlington myself today, which is not all that far from Maine. I'm confident there will be a huge turnout even without me. Stay tuned!