Many American and British bands – as well as other entertainers – have been waging an ongoing cultural-boycott-war against Israel. Grammy award winner Carlos Santana pulled the plug earlier this year on his Israel concert. And in the aftermath of Israel’s May interception of the jihadist-controlled ship Mavi Marmara, which attempted to break a legal naval blockade of Gaza, the alternative band the Pixies canceled their Tel Aviv concert. The British musician Elvis Costello, too, several weeks before the Gaza Flotilla conflict, walked away from two planned concerts in Israel.

Johnny Rotten, who is widely considered to embody the zenith of punk music and a former singer of the British band the Sex Pistols, issued the following statement to the Independent newspaper about his planned concert in Tel Aviv: