After calls by members of the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel movement together with thousands of other peace-loving people from around the world, renowned music legend and civil rights leader, Stevie Wonder, has cancelled his scheduled performance at a benefit gala for the Israeli military. Wonder said:
“[W]ith a heart that has always cried out for world unity, I will not be performing at the Israeli Defense Force Gala on December 6th. I am respectfully withdrawing my participation from this year’s event to avoid the appearance of partiality. As a Messenger of Peace, I am and have always been against war, any war, anywhere. Hoping for one world, one people, one day.”
– Stevie Wonder
According to the Associated Press, a contact at the United Nations recommended the canceling of Wonder’s performance because he is an official “Messenger of Peace” for the UN. The twenty-two time Grammy Award winning singer, whose hits include “Isn’t she lovely” and “I just called to say I love you”, was scheduled to sing at a December 6th fundraising gala in Los Angeles hosted by the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF), a funding organization set up to sponsor Israelis serving in the Israel Defense Force.
The South Africans BDS members have saluted Stevie Wonder’s decision. They hope that it will affirm other artists who are called on to respect the cultural boycott of Israel.
Stevie Wonder has –consistently– chosen the right side of history. As many of us remember, he publicly turned down a lucrative offer during the 1980s to perform in apartheid South Africa. Stevie Wonder refused to entertain Apartheid South Africa, and he now refuses to entertain Israeli Apartheid. He has, and is, setting an example for all artists to follow! Click here to thank Stevie Wonder: http://tinyurl.com/cd3n343