(JTA) — His bandmate Johnny Greenwood has become one of the most vocal non-Jewish artists rejecting pressure to boycott Israel over its war in Gaza. But famously reticent Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke had not said anything about the war — until now.
On Friday, Yorke posted an extended statement to Instagram lamenting the pressure he had faced to comment on the war, saying that it had affected his mental health. Then he gave the crowd what it wanted, writing, “For those who need to know.. let me fill in the blanks.”
He began by saying that he had regretted not speaking out when he was heckled during a concert in Melbourne last year. After briefly engaging with the heckler, a pro-Palestinian concert-goer who wanted him to condemn “the Israeli genocide in Gaza,” Yorke stormed off the stage.
“I remained in shock that my supposed silence was somehow being taken as complicity, and I struggled to find an adequate way to respond to this and to carry on with the rest of the shows on the tour,” he wrote.
“That silence, my attempt to show respect for all those who are suffering and those who have died, and to not trivialize it in a few words, has allowed other opportunistic groups to use intimidation and defamation to fill in the blanks, and I regret giving them this chance,” he added. “This has had a heavy toll on my mental health.”
Yorke proceeded to condemn Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Netanyahu and his crew of extremists,” whom he said the international community should continue to pressure. He had previously criticized Netanyahu in 2017, when Radiohead performed in Israel over the objection of pro-Palestinian advocates.
“I believe this ultranationalist administration has hidden itself behind a terrified and grieving people and used them to deflect any criticism, using that fear and grief to further their ultranationalist agenda with terrible consequences,” he wrote.
Pro-Palestinian activists ignore Oct. 7 attacks, Yorke says
Yorke also criticized Hamas and suggested that pro-Palestinian demonstrators were ignoring its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
“The unquestioning Free Palestine refrain that surrounds us all does not answer the simple question of why the hostages have still not all been returned. For what possible reason?” he wrote. “Why did Hamas choose the truly horrific acts of October 7? The answer seems obvious, and I believe Hamas chooses to hide behind the suffering of its people in an equally cynical fashion for their own purposes.”
Greenwood recently had concerts canceled in England with his Israeli collaborator Dudu Tassa amid security concerns emanating from criticism over his engagement with Israel. At the time, Greenwood and Tassa denounced “censorship” and said they did not believe artists should be held responsible for the misdeeds of the governments of their countries.
Yorke acknowledged that fans who wanted him to make a more forceful or one-sided statement would be disappointed, writing, “I am sure that to this point, what I’ve written here will in no way satisfy those who choose to target myself or those I work with.”
The comments section soon bore him out. Some posters thanked him for his statement, but others criticized it quickly. “This is the most centrist thing I’ve read, and that’s not a compliment. Let down,” wrote one fan.