American attorney and expert on the cultural boycott against Israel, Lana Melman, has brought out a new book, Artists Under Fire: The BDS War against Celebrities, Jews, and Israel, in which she puts the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign on trial. The SA Jewish Report spoke to her.
What inspired you to write this book?
The cultural boycott is using artists and celebrities as pawns to spread damaging lies about Israel, and is stirring up global anti-Jewish racism. Jews are being attacked on the streets in New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto. In London, cars drive through Jewish neighbourhoods as their passengers scream out calls for violence against us. The cultural boycott is creating much of this hate, and people need tools to combat it.
What went into writing it?
Almost everything. I write about artists and entertainers from my recollections of current events or personal engagement. I’ve fought against the cultural boycott campaign since 2011, and have corresponded with more than a thousand representatives of artists under BDS fire such as Alicia Keys, Cyndi Lauper, Pitbull, and Scarlett Johansson. Previously, I worked in the entertainment industry for more than 20 years as an attorney, creative executive, and writer-producer.
What do you hope to achieve with this book?
I want to share what I learnt, provide a clear and concise analysis, and offer people tools. Many people, even the best-informed members of the pro-Israel community, don’t really understand the cultural boycott campaign – how it works, which artists support it, why it’s so dangerous, and how to talk about it. I wrote this book to educate and empower them.
I’d like to encourage people to go on the offensive and bring the battle to BDS. When we reveal the classic antisemitic tropes inside BDS messaging as well as its attempts to censor and intimidate, we focus on the morality of the campaign itself. It’s a winning argument that puts BDS on the defensive.
How do you believe this book can assist in the fight against antisemitism?
Artists Under Fire helps the reader understand the connection between anti-Zionism, which demonises Israel, and classic Jew-hatred. Anti-Zionism disseminates the same lies about Jews being evil that have led to discrimination and violence against us for centuries. When people disparage Zionists, who do you think they’re talking about? Dr Martin Luther King is often quoted as saying, “When people criticise Zionists, they mean Jews.”
What do you believe is the hypocrisy of the BDS movement?
Proponents of the cultural campaign against Israel claim that their cause is human rights and their methods are non-violent. They have mastered the language of the enlightened left but scratch the surface, and you will see that their tactics – along with their messaging – are anything but peaceful. Most international entertainers who want to perform in Israel face threats to their careers and their reputations, and some even to their lives.
BDS isn’t pro-Palestinian; it’s anti-Israel. Time and time again, proponents have rejected opportunities to improve the lives of Palestinians and instead work cynically to advance their own political agenda, namely to delegitimise Israel.
Just recently, Big Thief, an American band with an Israeli bass player, wanted to donate the proceeds from an upcoming concert in Tel Aviv to Palestinian charities, but the BDS campaign pressured it to cancel, which deprived the Palestinian people of funds.
When comic Eddie Izzard wanted to run in a West Bank marathon which was intended to draw attention to the restriction on freedom of movement for Palestinians, he was turned away because he had performed in Israel the night before. If BDS proponents were truly concerned about the welfare of Palestinians, they would re-examine this strategy. They haven’t.
What’s the real impact of BDS and the anti-Israel lobby on the entertainment industry and artists?
The cultural boycott campaign has a negative impact on artists, Israel, and global Jewry because it’s a censorship campaign. It seeks to separate artists from their audiences, and attempts to control what people think by controlling the films they see and the music they hear.
Who has been most detrimentally harmed by BDS in this industry, and why?
BDS is harming a large swath of the creative community. Minority artists, like Black Coffee and Alicia Keys, are attacked for allegedly betraying their community. Young artists, like Demi Lovato, can be emotionally devastated by social-media bullying. Arab Israelis are deprived of opportunities to collaborate with their Jewish brethren. Less well-known artists are sensitive to threats to careers, implied or explicit, and BDS callously exploits this vulnerability. Israeli artists performing abroad face a gamut of discrimination.
How would you define what it is that “Israel-haters” like BDS do, and why?
When an artist books a trip or concert date in Israel, BDS groups launch a multifaceted campaign to pressure them to cancel. They write statements, petitions, and “open letters” filled with appalling lies about the Jewish state. They circulate memes and photoshopped images on social-media platforms associating Israel and the artist with destruction, racism, apartheid, the murder of children, and worse.
These aspersions against the artist’s reputation and threats to their career are bald-faced coercion. On the flip side, when Israeli artists perform for an international audience, there are calls for cancellations, performances are disrupted, and audiences are forced to walk past intimidating protesters.
Because entertainers, particularly celebrity entertainers, are media magnets, the story about the campaign becomes “news” and gets picked up by mainstream and entertainment industry media. Invariably, the media repeats the false allegations and spreads the disinformation further.
Mind you, we’re most often talking about campaigns against artists who don’t support the boycott and don’t end up cancelling. Nonetheless, BDS is leeching off their ability to attract attention to advance its poisonous messaging.
What impact has publishing this book had on you?
Honestly, I’m deeply moved by the response. There are many times in life when you put something good out into the world, but it doesn’t necessarily resonate. I’m so grateful that people have responded and expressed appreciation not just for the work I’ve done, but for helping them get their arms around a topic that frequently feels overwhelming.
Now that this book is done, how will you take it further?
I’ve just begun a book tour, and plan to continue to do that for the next couple of years to raise as much awareness as possible. I’m available to journalists and filmmakers to provide context and insight on this issue. I also plan to get the book out to as many high school and college students as possible, likewise members of the entertainment industry. And, of course, I remain available to artists and entertainers who seek my advice.
