Placebo Lebanon Gig Boycott Urged After Israeli Concert

There are few topics that provoke such polarization as the Israel-Palestine conflict, but here, perhaps, is a sentiment that all of us -- Muslims and Jews, left and right -- can get behind (or at least lazily endorse). Lebanese activists have called for a boycott of mid-'90s rockers Placebo.

Groups including the Campaign to Boycott Israeli Supporters in Lebanon and the Campaign for the Lebanese Boycott of Zionism have urged fans to skip tonight's scheduled Placebo gig in Beirut, the Daily Telegraph reported. The move comes after Brian Molko's troupe played a show in Israel, in spite of international criticism of the country's recent attack on a humanitarian aid ship bound for blockaded Gaza.

"The band must choose either to play in Lebanon or to play in a state that continuously violates rights," argued campaign spokesperson, and Lebanese writer, Sama Idriss. According to another campaigner, Rana Al-Masri, Placebo "ignored the massacre against the Freedom Flotilla last week and went further, announcing their support for Israel" in a magazine interview.

Concert promoter Jihad al-Murr, who organised the band's Lebanon show, said, "This is music, a concert, and has nothing to do with politics. Shall we boycott every minister, official or artist that has ever visited Israel? That's ridiculous."

Molko's alleged pro-Israel stance bucks a growing trend among musicians. The Pixies cancelled their planned first ever gig in the state this weekend, seemingly in response to the flotilla assault, which left at least nine activists dead, modst of them Turkish. The always outspoken Rage Against the Machine, meanwhile, condemned the raid at their recent free concert in London. Prior to the Freedom Flotilla incident, Elvis Costello announced that he was cancelling Israeli gigs in support of the Palestinian cause.