Nigel Kennedy v The Bleeb Bleeb C

Richard Morrison's Times review of Nigel Kennedy's autobiography made me chuckle, especially the violinist's run-ins with the BBC. I remembered the earlier spats but didn't know about this one:

Later Kennedy caused friction at the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms [back in 2013] where he appeared alongside two formidably woke American women: the conductor Marin Alsop and the singer Joyce DiDonato (neither of whom Kennedy names). Irritated that DiDonato had declared that she would be dedicating her performance “to transgender people around the world” (“WOT D FUKK?? WHY?” Kennedy asks, not unreasonably), the violinist announced at his rehearsal with the BBC Symphony Orchestra that he was dedicating his performance “to all the forgotten and displaced heteros”.

“As I finished my sentence,” he writes, “my eyes rested on the front of the viola section. I saw two very unamused women glowering at me as if heterosexuals shouldn’t be allowed to be recognised or celebrate anything. The conductor also seemed rather unsupportive.”

I bet she did. “The Bleeb Bleeb C [sic] won’t make shows with me any more,” Kennedy observes. “Jimmy Savile was OK, but apparently I’m not.”

Clive James on Nigel Kennedy

Ah, the master is still at it, penning beautifully-written reviews of TV, junk or otherwise.

Here's Clive James, blessing the Telegraph with his presence, on Nigel Kennedy at the Last Night of the Proms:

In The Last Night of the Proms (BBC One) Nigel Kennedy might not have looked like a violinist specifically, but he sure as hell didn’t look normal either.

You could say that his clothes were just an assembly of random cloth that hit him after a mattress factory exploded nearby, but his hairstyle was the dazzling proof that his get-up was all his own idea. Spiked and shining with fixative, his coiffure rose vertically as if it were being sucked into an overhead air duct.

Meanwhile he was playing The Lark Ascending, by Vaughan Williams; and very beautiful it was. Well, if that’s what it takes for an instrumentalist to relax, why not? Although I can’t remember that Vladimir Horowitz ever wore a clown’s costume to play the piano. But then he really was mad, crazy etc. (You can always tell them: they work flat out to prove themselves normal, whereas people who carry on like nitwits crave attention, not solace.)

Posturing Redacted

“A spokeswoman for the BBC said that Kennedy’s remarks would be cut from the television screening because they did not “fall within the editorial remit of the Proms as a classical music festival."She added: “The Proms is not an appropriate place to foster political statements.”

Quotes John Bingham in the Telegraph.

Which seems quite right and proper to me. But the row is being framed to look as if it’s only “Jews” who are making a big fuss about the BBC’s decision to cut the political posturing out of Nigel Kennedy’s prom when it’s re-broadcast on BBC3.

 This is like deja-don’t-view all over again - echoes of the BBC’s other uncharacteristically sensible decision highjacked by the anti-Israel mob  when they chose not to air the DEC Gaza appeal on the BBC.

This one is not just a matter of the BBC’s impartiality. This time it’s the proms, of which the BBC  is rightly proud, and the integrity of which it regards itself custodian. Does the BBC want to turn it into a platform for political or commercial posturing? No.

“Dermot Kehoe, chief executive of the British Israel Communications and Research Centre (Bicom) said: “The BBC is right to ensure that artists do not use their airwaves as a personal platform, whether for commercial or political purposes.”

“Another interested party,” I hear you say. Then there’s the way celebrities abuse their privileged status, which they are well aware automatically confers publicity and undeserved respect upon their random views. They are, after all, people admired for unrelated talents, be their opinions ill-informed and inflammatory or just plain daft.

“The BBC must protect its editorial integrity and impartiality. In this instance Nigel Kennedy's remarks were ill informed, untrue and inappropriate.”“Last night Kennedy’s manager, Terri Robson, signalled that she accepted the BBC’s decision to cut the comments – even though the violinist himself did not agree.She said: “Everyone in the music industry is aware that the proms television broadcast is a politics free zone as far as statements from the podium are concerned.”

So Nigel’s a loose cannon as far as his manager’s concerned. Well whaddya know.

The opinions of all those people who have jumped onto the Kennedy bandwagon - the usual clowns, some of whom seem positively unhinged, also have extra clout, being as ‘ow they’re also “Jews”.

The implication appears to be that it’s only Jews with their wicked lobbying who are objecting to the BBC ‘doing the right thing’, so their opinions can be discounted. In that case non-Jewish supporters of Israel and the testimonies of artists who perform there despite the death threats and vile hostility from haters, should count, in the eyes of the public, for much more.

Pigs above the parapet

It wouldn’t make any difference if I decided to boycott Roger Waters because I never did like Pink Floyd, but would it make much difference to Roger Waters if he decided to properly boycott Israel, and would that  impinge on his career as an aging rock-star?

Enraged by the BBC’s decision to cut Nigel’s rant from the BBC3 broadcast, Waters hits back.

“I write to you now, my brothers and sisters in the family of Rock and Roll, to ask you to join with me, and thousands of other artists around the world, to declare a cultural boycott on Israel,” he wrote.
“Please join me and all our brothers and sisters in global civil society in proclaiming our rejection of apartheid in Israel and occupied Palestine, by pledging not to perform or exhibit in Israel or accept any award or funding from any institution linked to the government of Israel, until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.”

Oh. I see it’s only a partial boycott, selectively chosen so as not to interfere with all those intel chips and stuff that global civil society needs. 

“Time to stick my head above the parapet again, alongside my brother, Nigel Kennedy, where it belongs. And by the way, Nigel, great respect man.”

Now see what you’ve gone and done brother Nige, you fool. 

Just imagine, Roger and Nige, Annie Lennox, Alexei Sayle, Stephen Hawking and uncle Tom Cobley and all sticking their heads where they belong.

Celebrities will probably continue to advertise their ignorance and bigotry till inflatable pigs cease to fly.

Fools and Posturing Celebrities

I know I should be used to it by now, but I’m still shocked and taken aback by the intensity of feeling expressed by the ‘Hitler was right’ brigade. It’s particularly upsetting when it comes from the music world, around which I hover on the periphery.

I often read Norman Lebrecht’s bog ‘Slipped Disc’ and a while ago I came across an unusual guest post by pianist Peter Donahoe who had been performing a series of concerts in Israel. His piece ‘Israel Diaries’ can be read on his own website. He gives a positive account of his experiences, adding that he was not especially au fait with the politics and history of the region. Predictably, a small avalanche of left-leaning music fans proceeded to enlighten him, many criticising his decision to go to Israel into the bargain.

Pianist Peter Donahoe

This unpleasant scenario was repeated with a vengeance when the Israel Philharmonic’s Prom was defiled by attention-seeking fools, when the topic that caused most interest amongst the Slipped Disc commentariat was not so much the incident itself but the suspension of a London Philharmonic Orchestra member who had written  a letter calling for the Israel Philharmonic to be banned from the BBC Proms,

Many such people have descended upon BBCWatch to complain about Hadar’s article on Nigel Kennedy’s recent inappropriate politicising during the performance. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s a bit facile to say it, but we all know from experience in this night of music tonight that, given equality, and getting rid of apartheid, gives beautiful chance for amazing things to happen.”

Nigel Keffiyeh Kennedy

On a blog that usually attracts a small handful of Hitler Was Righters, there is now a small avalanche of people who are incandescent with fury on behalf of the Palestinians and “What Israel is doing to them.” The tone of their arguments remind me of the comments that appeared on the Channel 4 blog surrounding Peter Kosminsky’s sham historical fiction The Promise. People were outraged in a similar fashion, with acres of incorrect quotes and tranches of misunderstood, factually wrong, distorted versions of the Israel/Palestine situation. Another notable trend is the bandying about of Jenny Tonge’s favourite phrase, which she might have invented, namely the ubiquitous: “What Israel is doing” (to the Palestinians) uttered confidently, without feeling any obligation to expand, like a conspiratorial wink and the ‘know what I mean?‘when sometimes you don’t really know at all.

I called these people the Hitler Was Right Brigade because their arguments always boil down to just that. 

Underlying most of it is the fear and loathing they have for the all-powerful Zionist Lobby, which they believe lies behind every defence or positive remark about Israel that they're unfortunate enough to be confronted with. 

“Why is it that western society always listens to the Israeli Zionist Jews lies. They twist historic events and have the gall to call the written record, false.
Anyone standing up to them is instantly branded as an anti-semite, when they aren’t semites”.

asks one commenter. Well, anyone can see how difficult it would be to turn the likes of that person round.

“Sadly, there are still supporters of Zionism/Israel who only respond in line with the constructed narrative they have been taught.”

says another with an alarming lack of self-awareness.

The nub of the matter is the perception, disseminated by a plethora of BBC ‘experts’, that Jews stole the land from the rightful inhabitants, the indigenous Arab Muslims, possibly at gunpoint, like something out of a gangster movie, or the Zimbabwean land grab.

“It was called Palestine, Britain had the mandate until May 1948, when it was handed back to the UN, the Zionists came and stole it from the rightful occupants. The UN had proposed a division which, rightfully, the Palestinians said No to. Would anyone like their country being given to people from another country?” 

ventures one contributor, while the reposte, which opens:

“Hard to credit someone can come onto this forum displaying such a high level of sheer ignorance.” 

- you just know will fall on deaf ears, despite being followed up with a detailed correction.

Here’s another passionate declaration of the ‘truth”

“The truth is the Palestinians live under a a dailyoccupation,(sic) their lands stolen, when do the Palestinians ever get a balanced and fair coverage.. I for one commend what Mr Kennedy had to say. When Israel begins to address it’s cruel policies to the people of Gaza and the West Bank, and it’s failure to respect international laws, then perhaps less people will raise their voices in opposition.”

There’s an actual  9/11 conspiracy theorist amongst them, but mostly they’re people with  child-like willingness to take on and fight for the cause of victimhood, and run with it, blindly, up the wrong garden path. 

But I’m sorry to say that these are the views of a frightening majority; not that the numbers game has much going for it,  but since one of the arguments in their arsenal is the ‘disproportionate’ one, where war casualty numbers alone comprise the beginning, middle and and end of their case against Israel, one might equally point out the geographical disproportionality between Israel and its hostile neighbours and remind them that Jews are a numerically insignificant bunch in terms of the world’s population. 

Another recent illustration of the 'Hitler Was Right' thinking took the form of a stream of incontinent vitriol in response to Guido’s  images of Gaza. I mean.

Of course the important question concerns celebrities exploiting their position for political rants of various kinds, and the fact that their opinions may not be any more well-informed or considered than anyone else’s. In fact it rarely is. The consequences of their outbursts might be far-reaching too. 

When Nigel Kennedy utters a soundbite during his publicity  tour and the broadcasting studios and press utilize the sensationalist, controversialist  elements of it to boost their ratings, what can one expect, other than fanning a few flames and stirring up a bit more Jew-bashing.

“These problems of apartheid in Israel at the moment are extreme. You know, people not able to get onto their orange groves, people not able to get education, not able to get medical supplies.”

(From Saturday Live.)

Pianist Evgeny Kissin

The only thing one must ask oneself is, do we feel the same way when, say, someone like Evgeny Kissin rises above the piano world and comes out with a political statement of his own in this ‘open Letter to the BBC’.

Dear Sir,
I first came to live in this country thirteen years ago and became a British subject seven years ago, having grown up in the Soviet Union. I was inspired and proud to belong to the country of Winston Churchill, who famously said "There is no anti-Semitism in England because we do not consider ourselves more stupid than the Jews". Above all, the BBC and especially its World Service had always been a beacon of light, of truth and objectivity to those of us behind the Iron Curtain, in the Evil Empire. Reaching out to far corners of the world, it was the voice of a country which for us was a model of democracy and human rights.
Since a long time now, I receive verified reports on an almost daily basis of the BBC's slander and bias towards Israel, painfully reminiscent of the old Soviet anti-Zionist propaganda. This culminated with the BBC's Persian Service's blood libel concerning Israel's alleged harvesting of Palestinian organs and blood for future transplant. It beggars belief that the British taxpayer should be funding an organisation which is aligning itself with Iran's despotic leader in its anti-Semitic propaganda.
Other print media, like the Guardian, which erroneously printed this libel, propagated by Israel's enemies, have since apologized. I am not aware of any such retraction from the BBC.
Is it not high time for the BBC to return to the values for which is was so much respected before it finds itself in the garbage of history together with Pravda, TASS, Volkischer Beobachter and Der Angruff? Yours faithfully,
Evgeny Kissin

Read more:http://www.evgenykissinfansite.co.uk/id1.html#ixzz2c2jsU5bn