Wolf Alice Support Israeli Cultural Boycott

"We agreed years ago that we wouldn’t go there..."

Wolf Alice have discussed the motivations behind their support for the cultural boycott of Israel.

The subject of performing in Israel has been at the forefront of music news over the past 12 months, with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds playing a controversial show there, while Lana Del Rey announced – and then cancelled – an appearance in Tel Aviv.

Wolf Alice have been committed to not performing in the Middle East country for some time now, with guitarist Joff Oddie expanding on their views with The Independent.

The musician stated that the band's position hardened after “Israelis started shooting and killing people in their tens and hundreds…”

He said: “We agreed years ago that we wouldn’t go there, but this was about agreeing that we would make it public. It’s been the worst period of violence since the bombings in Gaza in 2014, so [for us] it was just a big kick up the arse to say, look, we do support this.”

Singer Ellie Rowsell added: “If you say you’re not gonna go to Israel, then lots of people ask you why you’re going to other countries where you don’t believe in their government’s actions.”

“People ask, ‘Why do you go to America? Does that mean you support Trump?’ And I can see why [they] think that’s hypocritical, but you won’t do anything if you think like that. Everywhere’s fucked, and in terms of the cultural boycott of Israel, that’s what the Palestinian people have asked for.”

Earlier this year Wolf Alice declared themselves to be part of the #ArtistsForPalestine movement – joined by the likes of Portishead, Shame, and many more.

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