UK Jewish groups threaten protests if Kanye West’s Wireless shows go ahead | Kanye West

Kanye West will face mass protests if his three-night residency at London’s Wireless festival goes ahead, Jewish groups say; They say if the rapper is truly upset about his antisemitic remarks, he should cancel his concerts this summer.

West, legally known as Ye, said on Tuesday that he offered to “meet and listen” to members of the UK’s Jewish community following outcry that he planned to attend the festival in July.

He was criticized for making anti-Semitic statements, including expressing admiration for Adolf Hitler. Last year, he released a song called Heil Hitler, a few months after advertising the sale of a swastika T-shirt on his website.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said that if Ye was truly remorseful, he should cancel the demonstrations, otherwise it would stage protests.

A CAA spokesman said: “This is about profit, not charity. No one knows what will come out of Mr West’s mouth on that stage or afterwards… so if the demonstrations go ahead we will stage a mass demonstration outside the festival whose organizers should be ashamed of themselves.”

In January, Ye took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal apologizing for his anti-Semitic behavior and attributing his provocative actions to bipolar-1 disorder.

In a statement on Tuesday, he said: “I have been following the debate around Wireless and want to address this issue head on. My sole aim is to come to London and present a show of change that brings unity, peace and love through my music.”

“I would be grateful for the opportunity to meet and hear from members of the Jewish community in the UK in person. I know words are not enough; I will need to demonstrate change through my actions. If you’re open, I’m here.”

His planned appearance was condemned by MPs and other Jewish organizations, who called on the government to ban him from the country.

A Downing Street spokesman said “all options are on the table” as the Home Office reviews permission to enter the UK and decisions will be made “in accordance with the law”.

Health minister Wes Streeting previously said the rapper should not headline the festival.

However, Scottish National Party leader John Swinney stated that the rapper should be able to perform and said that the United Kingdom “is a free country, people will say things, let’s let people listen to the music they want.”

Phil Rosenberg, chairman of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the largest Jewish social organization in the United Kingdom, said the organization was willing to meet Ye, but only if he agreed not to play at the festival.

“Although he claims remorse today, his last album includes the disgusting track Gas Chamber, which was first released last year,” Rosenberg said. “The Jewish community will want to see real repentance and change before believing that the Radio Festival main stage is the appropriate place for this sincerity to be tested.

“So we want to meet Kanye West as part of his recovery journey, but only after he agrees not to play Wireless festival this year.”

At the weekend, Keir Starmer said it was “deeply concerning” that Ye was performing the concert “despite his previous anti-Semitic remarks and celebration of Nazism”.

On Monday evening, Melvin Benn, general manager of Festival Republic, which is promoting Wireless, said it “didn’t deliver.” [Ye] “It is a platform that sings the songs that are currently played only on radio stations and broadcast platforms in our country, that millions of people listen to and like, and that glorifies all kinds of ideas.”

He added: “I am a deeply committed anti-fascist and have remained so throughout my adult life. For months in the 1970s I lived on a kibbutz that was attacked on 7 October. [2023]I am pro-Jewish and pro-Jewish, but I am equally committed to the Palestinian state. “What Ye has said in the past about Jews and Hitler is as repugnant to me as it is to the Jewish community, the prime minister, and others who have commented and – taking him at his word – are now also approaching Ye.”

Benn asked that Ye be given a second chance. “Having been a person in my life for the last 15 years who suffers from mental illness, I have witnessed many incidents of despicable behavior that I have had to forgive and move on from. If I wasn’t before, I have become a forgiving and hopeful person in every aspect of my life, including work,” she said.

“Forgiveness and giving people second chances is becoming a lost virtue in an increasingly divisive world, and I implore people to consider her comments of momentary disgust at the prospect of performing (like mine) and offer her some forgiveness and hope, as I have decided to do.”

Pepsi and Diageo withdrew their festival sponsorships after Ye headlined and no brands appeared as visible sponsors on Wireless’s official website on Monday evening.

But speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Tuesday, Benn claimed Pepsi had considered Ye as the lead. “They signed and approved it,” he said. “They are our main sponsor, we asked them to sign and they did.”

Benn acknowledged that the festival could have approached the Jewish community sooner and that not having done so until recently “could have been a mistake.”

On Tuesday morning, Streeting denied that claim. “The fact that Kanye West is using bipolar disorder to justify his actions, by the way, I think that’s equally appalling,” he said. “I would ask people to consider this: Using bipolar disorder as an excuse to write and release a song called Heil Hitler and plaster it on T-shirts, does bipolar disorder really justify that? Or is it an excuse to justify rotten behavior?”