Radiohead’s Thom Yorke gives BDS supporters the finger during Glasgow concert
Just a week and a half before they’re scheduled to perform at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park, English rock band Radiohead continued to battle the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. During the band’s Friday night concert at the TRNSMT Festival in Glasgow, Scotland, several activists raised Palestinian flags as well as a “Radiohead: #canceltelaviv” sign, and held demonstrations outside the venue, causing lead singer Thom Yorke to respond.
According to Consequence of Sound, prior to the band’s performance of “Myxomatosis,” Yorke reportedly exclaimed, “Some f#cking people!” while staring out into the crowd. He was also caught giving the middle finger to the flag wavers.
Radiohead have faced a number of protest over their decision to play Tel Aviv, including at Glastonbury.
Speaking recently to Rolling Stone, Yorke described the situation as “offensive” and “an extraordinary waste of energy,” saying: “I don’t agree with the cultural ban at all, along with J.K. Rowling, Noam Chomsky and a long list of others... There are people I admire [who have been critical of the concert] like [English film director] Ken Loach, who I would never dream of telling where to work or what to do or think.”
Yorke called it “patronizing in the extreme” to presume Radiohead is unfamiliar with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, pointing out that guitarist Jonny Greenwood’s wife is an Israeli Jew.