M.I.A. wants Radiohead to play Palestine after Israel gig

Written by . Published: June 16 2017

M.I.A wants Radiohead to play a concert in the occupied Palestinian territories after their controversial gig in Israel.


The British rock band have been heavily criticized by some of their fellow artists, including Pink Floyd legend Roger Waters, as they are performing in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv next month (Jul17).

Israel's government has been heavily criticized by activists due to its alleged mistreatment of the Palestinian people, who live in two independently administered territories bordering the country.

M.I.A. says that rather than pull-out of the Tel Aviv concert, the band should play a gig in Palestine.

"If you do one, you've got to do the other," she tells British newspaper The Times. "I would do Palestine as well."

The 41-year-old rapper is curating London's Meltdown festival, which began last week (end11Jun17) and finishes on Friday (18Jun17).

In February (17) the activist musician took to Twitter to beg Radiohead to play the event, but the group did not respond to her request.

She says that the offer to Thom Yorke and his bandmates still stands, and that they should play a surprise gig at Meltdown, saying, "They should do Meltdown to counteract Israel."

Radiohead frontman Thom, 48, spoke out angrily against those who criticized him for performing in Israel earlier this month (Jun17).

"The kind of dialogue that they want to engage in is one that's black or white," he told Rolling Stone magazine. "I have a problem with that... 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.

"I thought it was patronising in the extreme. It's offensive and I just can't understand why going to play a rock show or going to lecture at an (Israeli) university (is a problem)."

Roger and activists from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, who ask people not to engage economically with Israel, had previously published an open letter asking Radiohead to cancel their Tel Aviv gig.