Thom Yorke speaks out on Israel and Palestine stance and “social media witch-hunts”

Thom Yorke has shared a lengthy post explaining his stance towards the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

• READ MORE: Jonny Greenwood tells us about The Smile’s ‘Cutouts’ and the “fun and natural” Radiohead reunion

The solo star and frontman of Radiohead and The Smile took to social media today (May 30) to speak out on the conflict, after he clashed with a protester during a solo show last October and left the stage abruptly when the person in the crowd interrupted his set.

He began the new statement by addressing last year’s show, as well as the controversy that followed.

“Some guy shouting at me from the dark last year when I was picking up a guitar to sing the final song alone in front of 9000 people in Melbourne didn’t really seem like the best moment to discuss the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza,” Yorke began. “Afterwards I remained in shock that my supposed silence was somehow being taken as complicity, and I struggled to find an adequate way to respond to this and to carry on with the rest of the shows on the tour.”

“That silence, my attempt to show respect for all those who are suffering and those who have died, and to not trivialise it in a few words, has allowed other opportunistic groups to use intimidation and defamation to fill in the blanks, and I regret giving them this chance. This has had a heavy toll on my mental health,” he continued, before stating that his music should be enough of an indication to prove he “could not possibly support any form of extremism or dehumanisation of others”.

“All I see in a lifetime’s worth of work with my fellow musicians and artists is a pushing against such things, trying to create work that goes beyond what it means to be controlled, coerced, threatened, to suffer, to be intimidated… and instead to encourage critical thinking beyond borders, the commonality of love and experience and free creative expression,” he went on.

“For others, let me fill in the blanks now, so we’re nice and clear. I think [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his crew of extremists are totally out of control and need to be stopped, and that the international community should put all the pressure it can on them to cease,” Yorke wrote.

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“Their excuse of self-defence has long since worn thin and has been replaced by a transparent desire to take control of Gaza and the West Bank permanently,” he elaborated. “I believe this ultra-nationalist administration has hidden itself behind a terrified and grieving people and used them to deflect any criticism, using that fear and grief to further their ultra-nationalist agenda with terrible consequences, as we see now with the horrific blockade of aid to Gaza.”

Turning his sights to Hamas and its October 2023 attack at the Israeli music festival Supernova where citizens were taken and remain captive, the singer shared: “At the same time the unquestioning Free Palestine refrain that surrounds us all does not answer the simple question of why the hostages have still not all been returned? For what possible reason?”

“Why did Hamas choose the truly horrific acts of October 7? The answer seems obvious, and I believe Hamas chooses too to hide behind the suffering of its people, in an equally cynical fashion for their own purposes.”

1,200 attendees were killed in the terror attack launched by militants of the de facto government of Palestine in the Gaza Strip, and around 250 attendees were taken hostage by Hamas, according to figures from The Guardian. Outlets including BBC News report that Israel is now putting pressure on Hamas to release the 58 hostages it is still holding, with at least 20 believed to be alive.

Since the conflict escalated in 2023, at least 54,249 people have been killed in Gaza during the war. This included 3,986 people since Israel resumed its offensive, according to the territory’s health ministry. Nearly 4,000 people have been killed there in the past 10 weeks alone, and the UN says another 600,000 people have been displaced by Israeli ground operations. The IPC has warned that that half a million people in Gaza are facing catastrophic levels of hunger (via BBC).

Later in the post, the ‘Karma Police’ songwriter also addressed the pressure put on those in the public eye to speak out on political issues.

“Social media witch-hunts (nothing new) on either side pressurising artists and whoever they feel like that week to make statements etc do very little except heighten the tension, fear and oversimplification of what are complex problems that merit proper face-to-face debate by people who genuinely wish the killing to stop and an understanding to be found,” he shared.

“This kind of deliberate polarisation does not serve our fellow human beings and perpetuates a constant ‘us and them’ mentality. It destroys hope and maintains a sense of isolation, the very things that extremists use to maintain their position.

“I sympathise completely with the desire to ‘do something’ when we are witnessing such horrific suffering on our devices every day. It completely makes sense. But I now think it is a dangerous illusion to believe reposting, or one or two-line messages are meaningful, especially if it is to condemn your fellow human beings. There are unintended consequences.”

Concluding, Yorke wrote: “I am sure that, to this point, what I have written here will in no way [satisfy] those who choose to target myself or those I work with, they will spend time picking holes and looking for reasons to continue, we are an opportunity not to be missed, no doubt, and by either side.

“I have written this in the simple hope that I can join with the many millions of others praying for this suffering, isolation and death to stop, praying that we can collectively regain our humanity and dignity and our ability to reach understanding .. that one day soon this darkness will have passed.”

While this marks the first time the alt-rock icon has publicly spoken out on the Israel-Hamas war, it is worth noting that Radiohead did encounter backlash in 2017 when they played a show in Israel despite protests urging them to cancel the gig.

Among those pressuring the band to back out of the live show – which was held at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv – were Roger Waters, Thurston Moore, Young Fathers and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who all signed an open letter issued by Artists For Palestine UK.

Campaigners then organised a protest at Glastonbury that year, aiming to wave 100 Palestinian flags in front of the Pyramid Stage during the set.

The frontman would later respond to the controversy around the Israel show by stating: “Playing in a country isn’t the same as endorsing its government. We don’t endorse Netanyahu any more than Trump.”

Around that time, he also got into a Twitter altercation with director Ken Loach over the show, when the latter asked the members whether they would “stand with the oppressed or the oppressor?”

Last spring, Yorke’s  Radiohead and The Smile bandmate Jonny Greenwood also divided fans by playing a gig in Tel Aviv. 

The show took place one day after he reportedly participated in protests calling for hostages held in Gaza to be released and new elections to be held, and some pro-Palestine activists accused him of “artwashing genocide” by going ahead with the show.

The following month, the guitarist defended being a part of a musical project with Israeli musician Dudu Tassa, and spoke out against “silencing Israeli artists for being born Jewish in Israel”. He issued a further statement this month after UK gigs from the duo were cancelled after protestors called for a boycott.

In January 2024, fellow band member Ed O’Brien also shared his outlook on the conflict and called for a ceasefire in Gaza. “Like so many of you I have found the events of October 7 and what has followed too awful for words.. anything that I have tried to write feels so utterly inadequate. Ceasefire now. Return the hostages,” he wrote on Instagram.

The update from Yorke comes amid rumours circulating that Radiohead are gearing up to hit the road again and supposedly “placed holds in select European cities for a run of residency gigs this autumn”.

Yorke recently provided the theme tune to new Apple+ show Smoke, and released the collaborative album ‘Tall Tales’ with Mark Pritchard, as well as working on the new Hamlet To The Thief musical based on Radiohead’s ‘Hail To The Thief‘, which recently hit the stage in Manchester.

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