Ahead of two sold-out concerts in Tel Aviv, the Bad Seeds singer, Nick Cave, says he kept away for 20 years, ‘acting scared,’ but now decided to take a stand against censorship

Australian rocker Nick Cave spoke about his love for Israel and his decision to stand up against BDS at a press conference ahead of his Sunday and Monday night sold-out performances in Tel Aviv.

Cave said his connection to Israel began years ago during an initial visit.

“People speak about loving a nation, but I felt a kind of connection that I couldn’t really describe,” he said.

Cave recalled that his 1997 album “The Boatman’s Call” didn’t do well in Israel and he didn’t include Israel in that tour — both because it was thought his music wasn’t popular here, and due to the logistical complications of bringing a tour to Israel.

“And if you do come here,” he added, “you have to go through public humiliation from Roger Waters and his partners and no one wants to embarrass themselves publicly,” he said.

The Australian rocker took heat from Israel boycott activists for this week’s concerts, with Artists for Palestine UK asking the Bad Seeds lead singer to cancel the shows in protest of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza.

“For 20 years, I said, ‘let’s give it up,” Cave said of plans to come to Israel. “A few years ago, Brian Eno sent me a letter and asked me to sign it to shut out Israel, and I sent a letter back that said I wouldn’t sign. I understood that I wouldn’t sign but I also wouldn’t perform in Israel — and that seemed like I was acting scared. So I called my people and asked that we perform in Israel.”

Said Cave: “It suddenly became very important to make a stand, to me, against those people who are trying to shut down musicians, to bully musicians, to censor musicians and to silence musicians.”

Nick Cave elaborated that he was in Israel for two reasons: “I love Israel and I love Israeli people,” he said, and he wanted to take “a principled stand against anyone who tries to censor and silence musicians. So really, you could say, in a way, that the BDS made me play Israel.”

Read More: Times of Israel