Of dwarves and giants

Elvis Costello. Carlos Santana. The Pixies. What have they in common? They all cancelled concerts in Israel – as a gesture of political protest. I guess their fame and wealth went to their heads. Gave them a feeling of power that they don’t know how to wield. Or a feeling of cowardice and pusillanimity that they do. Because their boycott of Israel portrays them as intellectual and emotional dwarves. Compared with their colleague whose attitude and actions are those of a giant. A person of substance. Backbone. Courage. Independence. Ian Anderson (pictured) is he [1, 2]. Almost 63 years old, he’s the founder, leader and front man of the British rock group Jethro Tull [3, 4]. No Israel boycott for Ian. After receiving ‘some pretty nasty stuff’ from Israel’s enemies, he wrote a response on the band’s official Web site: ‘Basically what I wrote was: Don’t f***ing tell me what to do. I make up my own mind in light of available facts, with my own experience and a sense of personal ethics’. So on August 6, 7 and 9 Jethro Tull concerts in Israel went ahead as planned. Not only that, but included were two riffs from Hatikvah – Israel’s national anthem (at about the 4:00 and 5:10 mark on the YouTube clip [5]). Stirring stuff. And as if that’s not enough, the band donated its proceeds from the three shows to ‘bodies representing the development of peaceful co-existence between Muslims, Jews and Christians, and the fostering of better Palestinian Israeli relations’. Makes Costello, Santana et alii pathetic and ridiculous. Which they are