Matisyahu thrown out of festival for Palestinians

Musical storm: Jewish reggae singer Matisyahu Miller refused to sign that he supports a Palestinian state, and his performance was canceled due to pressure by members of the BDS, who are boycotting Israel.

As the singer told on his Facebook page, he was invited to the festival in Valencia Spain, but "the festival management asked I put a statement in which I present my position which corresponds to the position of the BDS organization.

It felt like pressure to agree with the political agenda of the BDS. Honestly, it was shocking and insulting, as a Jewish-American artist who had a performance at the festival, they tried to force me to make political statements. Was any other artist appearing at the festival asked to give political statements in order for them to appear? No artist deserves to be placed in this situation just to perform."

The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded to the story and said that this story proves that the boycott organization of Israel is an anti-Semitic organization, which also affects non-Israeli Jewish singers.

Matisyahu is a Jewish American singer who became a ba'al tshuva and was close to Chabad and Karlin Hassidus. Over time he shaved off his beard, writing that he is no longer a "Hassidic reggae singer" but declared that he continues to be observant of Mitzvos.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!