No date in the Promised Land for Springsteen sideman Van Zandt
The streak of Bruce Springsteen and Springsteen-extended family bands snubbing Israel continues.
Longtime sideman to the Boss, Steven Van Zandt, who has reformed his 1980s band the Disciples of Soul, announced a 19-date tour of Europe in November and December with shows throughout Great Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, but no Tel Aviv.
Van Zandt, who has been vocal in his opposition to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns against Israel, responded last month to a query on a Twitter string about a possible stop in Israel with a “working on it” response.
Apparently Israeli promoters were not willing to dip into their pockets for the asking fee to bring over the E-Street Band staple, whose appeal is more marginal than that of his more famous employer.
In March of last year, at the SXSW conference in Austin Texas, Van Zandt met Israel’s then consul general in New York, Ido Aharoni, and posed for photos with him.
Also last year, in response to a tweet accusing Van Zandt, who spearheaded a musical boycott of South Africa in the 1980s, of not holding Israel to the same standard, the guitarist responded: “You and the other Israel boycotters are politically ignorant obnoxious idiots. Israel is one of our two friends in the Middle East. In addition to the fact that a boycott in that case would accomplish nothing. Go get educated.”