"Well done to all the protesters who were brave enough to face down the wrath of the crowd and to throw leaflets through the air and shout in between songs, it clearly had an effect on Gil throughout the show and I don’t think he would have announced the cancellation of the Tel-Aviv show without this very direct pressure being applied.

I think he was embarrassed and ashamed, as he didn’t engage with the protesters in any way at the start of the show; he wanted to shrug them off, when he had a perfect opportunity to engage with them, as all he was doing at that point was telling some bad jokes and chatting. Then, almost at the end of the show, he said that the Tel-Aviv booking wouldn’t go ahead, but he mumbled something about scheduling and dates and people not being able to read. He got a standing ovation anyway, and a lot of tension was released. It was clear then that a lot of people had been at the show and felt very conflicted. Personally, I couldn’t enjoy it at all. Listening to him singing ‘Work For Peace’ and singing about how ‘everyone is talking about peace but no one wants to work for it’ was very difficult to stomach as I imagined him performing the same show in Israel.
Glad he didn’t sell out, he should’ve confronted this issue head on though and not mutter something about ‘scheduling’ to get him off the hook."

Comment left by Daithi Lacha · Sunday April 25, 2010

let's hope he didn't just cancel tel aviv to save his london gig, since there've been no official confirmations so far.