A concert by Franco-Israeli singer Amir canceled for “security reasons” in Marseille after calls for a pro-Palestinian boycott

After Barbara Butch, Joann Sfar and Lahav Shani, it is the turn of a new artist to be targeted by a section of the population. Amir’s free concert scheduled for Sunday July 26 in Marseille was canceled by the organizers in “risk reason” for security, after several calls for boycott launched by groups supporting Palestine. Another show by the Franco-Israeli singer, scheduled the day before in Rognac, in Bouches-du-Rhône, is being maintained at this stage, but under close surveillance.

The fourth date of Sunset Lives, a series of free concerts organized all summer on the roof of the Les Terrasses du Port shopping center, was to bring together Amir, Adèle Castillon, Peter Cincotti and Oria. But the organizers ultimately decided to cancel the event, a decision taken “in connection with the authorities”according to their press release.

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“In order to ensure the safety of the artists, the public, the teams and all the people present on the site, this event intended for a family audience cannot be maintained”they explain. They specify that “Safety is our top priority” and it is their responsibility to take “all necessary precautionary measures when conditions do not guarantee the smooth running of an event”.

The decision taken in the morning follows calls to demonstrate near the site from several collectives. The France Palestine Solidarity association of Bouches-du-Rhône invited in particular to a gathering on Sunday afternoon “against the arrival of singer Amir”which she presents as “support from the IDF” et “an actor of Israeli soft power”. For several months, the artist has been the target of calls for a boycott because of his public positions on Israel. For its part, the Palestine Marseille union welcomed the cancellation of the concert, while emphasizing that “this appeal was based on political demands and was part of an exclusively peaceful approach”. The association also insists on the fact that “that at no time did the mobilized collectives call for violence”.

Another concert kept under close surveillance

The Crif Marseille Provence has “expressed his deep concern” believing that “under the pretext of freedom of expression and supposedly peaceful boycott, these organizations are gradually imposing their law on cultural life”. The National Crif had already denounced on Monday a “hunt for Jewish artists or artists committed against anti-Semitism” after the interruption in Grenoble of a concert by DJ Barbara Butch by pro-Palestinian activists, by calling on the Ministry of Culture. “Faced with the new Red Guards, let’s not give in anything. Amir must sing in Marseille, For its part, the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (Licra) was outraged.

The cancellation of the Marseille concert could, however, shift tensions towards Rognac, where Amir is expected on Saturday evening for another free concert organized by the municipality. Fearing a postponement of the mobilizations, the prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône issued an order prohibiting protest gatherings in a perimeter on Saturday evening around the Place Saint-Jacques, where the show is to be held.

According to the State representative, the cancellation in Marseille “could lead members of pro-Palestinian associations to postpone their action in the commune of Rognac”. Law enforcement will be deployed and traffic and parking measures have also been put in place around the site. At this stage, the municipality maintains the event, presented in recent days as “one of the highlights of summer”.