Pixies cancel performance inIsrael

Tue 8th Jun, 2010 in International News

The Pixies have cancelled their headlining performance at Israel’s Pic.Nic festival after the international uproar surrounding the attack on an aid flotilla headed for Gaza.

Last week’s attack on the aid ship killed nine pro-Palestinian activists and wounded fifty more. The global media flew into a frenzy after Israel rejected the United Nations proposal for an international investigation.

The Pixies issued a statement concerning their decision to pull out of the festival: “We’d like to extend our deepest apologies to the fans, but events beyond all our control have conspired against us. We can only hope for better days in which we will finally present the long awaited visit of the Pixies in Israel.”

The festival in Tel Aviv would have been the band’s first appearance in Israel. Though no official reason has been given for their withdrawal, Billboard reports that the festival’s organizers believe the band’s cancellation to be related to those events.

The Pixies are not the only artists to cancel scheduled performances in Israel—others include Gorillaz, Klaxons, Jethro Tull, and Elvis Costello. Israeli concert promoter Shuki Weiss said of the situation, “I am full of both sorrow and pain in light of the fact that our repeated attempts to present quality acts and festivals in Israel have increasingly been falling victim to what I can only describe as a form of cultural terrorism which is targeting Israel and the arts worldwide.”