Charlotte Church concert for Palestine ‘in no way antisemitic’
Martin Shipton
The Jewish choir conductor who co-organised a fundraising concert for Gaza involving Charlotte Church has rejected allegations that it was in any way antisemitic.
A sell-out audience of 400 attended the event in Bedwas Workmen’s Hall at the weekend.
Right wing London tabloids have accused it of being antisemitic because one of the songs was called From the River to the Sea, which some interpret as meaning that Jews from the state of Israel should be eradicated from all the land between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea.
“Nonsense”
But Wendy Lewis, who has conducted Côr Cochion Caerdydd (Cardiff Red Choir) since 1987, said that was “absolute nonsense”.
With @charlottechurch and some of the best people in the world at #TheBigSing for #Palestine in Bedwas Workingmen’s Hall today. Wonderful harmonies, beautiful songs. pic.twitter.com/yU5SVKJnrY
— pippa bartolotti (@pippabartolotti) February 24, 2024
She said: “It was the most positive life-enhancing event I’ve ever taken part in. The range of people who attended was very broad and included Muslims, Christians, Jews and others who came together to celebrate the ideas of peace and goodwill.
“Our hearts are heavy because of the slaughter of more than 29,500 people in Gaza by the Israeli Defence Forces since the invasion last October.”
She added: “There was a huge amount of energy flowing in the hall, and we had 30, then 50, then 100 people on the stage at once.
“As a Jew myself who has had family members killed in pogroms, I know very well what antisemitism is, and it wasn’t present at all in the workmen’s hall.”
Wendy’s late husband Ray Davies, who died in 2015 aged 85, was a long serving Labour councillor and a passionate supporter of the Palestinian cause.
He and Wendy visited Palestine with the choir for the first time in 1994, when they undertook cultural visits to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.
Praise
On subsequent visits Ray took part in protests against the actions of the Israeli state in enforcing what many regard as a form of apartheid, in which Palestinians are deprived of rights and forbidden to travel freely in a similar way to how black people were treated in South Africa before the racist regime was dismantled.
On one occasion Ray was shot during a protest demonstration against the Israeli occupiers, but his injuries were not life-threatening.
Wendy praised Charlotte Church for taking part in the concert, which raised money for the charity Middle East Children’s Alliance and to fund an ambulance for Al Awda hospital, which has been destroyed during the invasion of Gaza by Israel.
During an Instagram Live video event, Charlotte said: “Just to clarify my intentions there, I am in no way antisemitic. I am fighting for the liberation of all people. I have a deep heart for all religions and all difference.
“It was a beautiful, beautiful event. But unfortunately, the powers that be can’t have that. [They] can’t have such a powerful symbol of resistance as what we worked towards on Saturday.”
“Spiritual experience”
Speaking to Novara Media on Monday evening, Charlotte said she “hates the idea that anybody thinks I am at all antisemitic or trying to make things more divisive”.
She added: “But I stand by everything that we sang on Saturday, it was really beautiful.
“It was an intergenerational choir from all over the country, it was a deeply spiritual experience for me and I would do it again 100 times and plan to.”
Supporters of the Palestinian cause deny that the phrase “From the River to the Sea” is antisemitic and say it refers to “the right of all Palestinians to freedom, equality and justice”.
Wendy Lewis pointed out that the phrase appears in the constitution of Likud, the right wing political party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which it represents a claim by Israel to the whole land of Palestine.
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well, “Semitic” includes Israel and Palestine. If Charlotte Church is anti Israel then good for her. Anyone with an iron filing’s worth of compassion should be condemning what Israel is doing both now and in the past. An Israeli air force pilot apparently set himself alight in protest against this terrible slaughter. If any of those Israeli soldiers and brave brainwashed bombers live to be my age they will have serious mental problems by the time they get there. Serious remorse. It seems the whole world (apart from the governments of the good old US of A and the Disunited… Read more »
I think you refer to the US Air Force member (not a pilot or flyer) who set himself on fire in Washjngton DC.
The chant, “from the river to the sea” by pro-Palestinian supporters is not antisemitic, neither is Charlotte Church when she was fundraising in support of the Palestinian people. Less we forget. In 1977 the Likud party of Israel said, and quote: “Between the sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty. And more recently similar was used by Benjamin Netanyahu in the Israeli Knesset. Fact! The Semitic Palestinian people have effectively turned the chant back on those Zionist politicians and made it their own by stating the Palestinian people will only be free when the lands lost are… Read more »
It’s predictable some would come out in accusations of anti semitism.
It’s a common ploy doled out as a shaming tactic to silence critics of Israel and its actions.
I don’t fall for it. Israel and its acolytes are islamophobic and ARE committing genocide.
Isreal reminds me so much of Anglo England to their control over Britain. The British state wasnt allowed to exist while the Britons (Welsh) knew who they were and had a decent amount of control. The moment most of Britain was controlled by the Anglo, Britain was allowed to exist as a Country. This is what Isreal are doing, Effectively saying Palestine can only exist within a country called Isreal, ma country that they solely control.
A person isn’t anti-semitic because they want the massacre of Palestinians to stop. Many Palestinians have Jewish DNA. Are you then anti-semitic because you’re anti-palestinian? I think these people banding about the term anti-semitic need to take a good look in the mirror and understand are they ignorant or Islamophobic?
Please, commenters, stop with the ‘antisemitism includes Palestinians because they are a semitic people’ arguments. “Antisemitism (or anti-semitism, if your prefer) has been sued for over a century to refer to prejudice and hatred towards Jews. You are just muddying the issues by using a false and pedantic linguistic point. Check a reputable dictionary.
I think 🤔 we need to keep the focus on those families and children who have died in their thousands – Jews and Arabs