Radiohead's Thom Yorke walks off stage in response to Israel 'genocide' heckler

Yorke said: “Playing in a country isn’t the same as endorsing the government. We’ve played in Israel for over 20 years through a succession of governments, some more liberal than others. As we have in America. We don’t endorse Netanyahu any more than Trump, but we still play in America.”

~~Common~~ sense is so refreshing.

Yorke said in a statement in 2017 before a show in Tel Aviv.
You kind of left out the most important part. I don't think Israel's current genocide is in anyway equivalent to a trump presidency, the comment sounds bloody ignorant without the context.
That being said, there's no need to start heckling about it when the guy hasn't been there since 2017. I will however judge harshly any artist that goes there after what has happened in the last year. Israel deserves a boycott.
- If we're gonna do that, boycott every artist that plays in the u.s. why do you guys like to act like your hands are clean while pointing your finger at others? Your country fucked up mine in the very recent past and not a single but of responsibility has yet to be taken, you don't get to moralize to the rest of the world
If that were true he wouldnt have lost his mind about a single protestor. Crowds are rowdy, thats just life.
They'd probably play in Nazi Germany too
- Godwin’s Law at work.
That'd be a fair excuse for what they've done if they were totally ignorant of what Israel's government has done, but they've been told by Desmond Tutu and a bunch of other people. They had a fully informed opportunity to pick their side and they picked it, so they really shouldn't be surprised when this keeps happening to them.
- Not to sound dumb but do you have a list of places they can play? I'm not super informed and would like to be. Specifically what places can they play that a quick Google won't invalidate with historic or current atrocities?
- That doesnt matter if they intend to play for their fans and not for their gov. Why should fans be punished for a gov that doesnt listen?
That's not common sense, that's nonsense. Playing in a country isn't the same as endorsing the government, but both are bad.
Edit: Wait this is in 2017. Still bad-ish, but less bad.

Before people shit on Yorke:

Yorke was playing a show in Melbourne, Australia, as part of a solo tour when, according to multiple videos recorded by concertgoers, a man yelled: "Do you condemn the Israeli genocide of Gaza? Already 200,000 [dead], half of them children."

I would have been pissed off at that shit too. Does every entertainer you see have to start their show with a condemnation of Israeli genocide?

It's Thom York, not Joe Biden.

Could he not just have ignored it? Or had security get them out?
I guess if it was a really small gig then maybe not, but it seems like derailing the gig was giving the jeckler the attention and headline they wanted, no?
- He didn't leave and never come back. He just walked off to show the person what a douchebag they were being. Then he came back.
  Edit: Here's video (which for some reason shows the end before looping back and showing the start). He literally gave the person a chance to get up on stage and say what they had to say and they wouldn't, so he lost his temper and walked off stage. I honestly do not blame him- https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/oct/31/thom-yorke-walks-off-stage-after-being-heckled-by-pro-palestine-heckler-at-melbourne-concert
- Yorke isn't the type to ignore something like that, he takes his ethics very seriously
- Or, since it's genocide and all, answer "yes".

"Why won't you let us ignore the genocide in peace"

Shame Radiohead is willingly going to play in Israel during a genocide. Boycotting America is a far more costly move. Avoiding a small place like Israel is so easy. They have not been there in more than five years, why go now?

Love radiohead music, but fuck Thim Yorke, he's an asshole on the wrong side of history

Radio head is very much peaceful artists.

Too bad, I liked radiohead. Well, onto my personal BDS list it goes.

i think you are a liar.
- Just because he's not willing to glaze Thom Yorke's dick or what? I liked them too.

Yorke was playing a show in Melbourne, Australia, as part of a solo tour when, according to multiple videos recorded by concertgoers, a man yelled: "Do you condemn the Israeli genocide of Gaza? Already 200,000 dead, half of them children."

Yorke could have just said “yes”, but instead he decided to get shirty with the man and then walk off stage.

People in this thread are saying that playing shows in Israel doesn’t mean that he supports the actions of the Israeli government. But what does it mean when he refuses to condemn the genocide?

Ockham’s razor: He supports Israel.

Occam's razor doesn't really apply here... You can't use that to just assert that he supports Israel. Besides, he later did say that he doesn't support Israel.
Honestly, I can understand the response. He's in the middle of a set and someone starts yelling about some political issue... Fuck that, he's here to play a concert. And you know what, I wouldn't want to be backed into making any political statement out of the blue, while on stage.
- He's in the middle of a set and someone starts yelling about some political issue...
  Some political issue..? That's what the genocide is to you?
- Occam's razor doesn't really apply here...
  Why? Because you like his music?
  Haven’t we all been through this with Morrissey?
  Even today, any thread about Morrissey will have a few comments about how maybe he isn’t really that racist, despite the now decades of evidence.
  Ockham’s razor.