PSC groups protested outside of Leeds Academy to raise awareness amongst gig goers. There was a great turn out, heat is on him all over the UK now. Next stop Liverpool Saturday & Glasgow Sunday; Ask Johhny NOT to play in Israel 31/8 via sfs@johnlydon.com / (agent ) adam.cotton@outside-org.co.uk & info@pilofficial.com. Oh and do mention fellow musician pals have now seen the light http://www.haaretz.com/culture/u-k-musicians-leftfield-cancel-israel-show-due-to-production-problems-1.303713#article_comments

John Lydon is also due to perform in Israel 31/8.  Sign up & circulate http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=137938606218216 ” Johnny Rotten you ain’t no human being if u play the Israeli fascist regime” & join the debate raging at http://www.leedsmusicforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=32013&p=1307889#p1307889

In the media:

Yorkshire Evening Post: PiL: Protest planned before Leeds show

Follow up letters to YEP article: Anti-Boycott Letters in YEP

Guardian Leeds: Palestine protesters set to demonstrate at Leeds Johnny Rotten gig

BBC Radio Leeds: Can music mix with politics?

Reading PSC: Johnny Rotten Protest by Leeds PSC – 7pm 23 July

In Minds: Palestine protesters set to demonstrate at Leeds Johnny Rotten gig

Stop the War Coalition: Johnny – Don’t be Rotten

Media Contact for Protest: 07909 178 123 E-mail: info[at]leedspsc.org.uk

BBC Radio Leeds Johnny Rotten Protest Interview

Photos from Leeds protest (Click on photo to enlarge)

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(Press release, 19/7)

Pals of Palestine Promise Punk PIL Protest @ Israel-bound “Johnny Rotten” Gig, Leeds 23/7 !!

As former Sex Pistols frontman, Johnny Lydon (aka Rotten ) and band Public Image Limited embark on a European Tour, supporters of Palestine throughout the UK are set to to gather outside his concerts, including Leeds, to highlight their decision to perform in Israel

Rotten plays Leeds  on Friday 23rd July, where he’s promised a “lively & engaging  presence” from protestors, including performers, who’ll be getting their message across to  arriving music fans in “a BIG way”, urging them to appeal directly to Johnny to cancel his date in Israel  at the end of August. Supporters will be gathered from 7pm in front of the O2 Academy, Cookridge Street, Leeds city centre.

Lydon is quoted (13/7/10 - http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/features/John-Lydon-Life-doesnt-terminate.6414419.jp) “All I’ve ever done is to try to do the world a bit of good…to live my life with wisdom”.  Leeds will thus ask him to “wise up” on the facts, for the “good” of the Palestinians..

The action forms part of a growing international campaign seeking to dissuade artists from performing in Israel, while Palestinians continue to endure Israeli policies of ethnic cleansing, land grab and discriminatory laws under military occupation and attacks .

Artists who have this year already cancelled performances in Israel include:- Carlos Santana,  The Pixies, The Klaxons, The Gorillaz,  Gil Scott-Heron – and most prominently  - http://www.elviscostello.com/news/it-is-after-considerable-contemplation/44. Dustin Hoffman & Meg Ryan are boycotting the recent Israeli film festival.

Dubbed “Cultural Intifada” by some (http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/07/12/2740002/in-israel-culture-and-politics-are-linked) many more increasingly view a decision to perform there as at least tacit  endorsement of Israeli policies on the Palestinian issue. The Cultural Boycott campaign (http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=869 ) forms part of a peaceful strategy of encouraging Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions, called for by  Palestinian  Civil Society 5 years ago ( http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/52)  that also features an emphasis on boycotting all Israeli goods, especially those sourced from  illegal Israeli settlements (http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/settlementgoodsleaflet.pdf )

Leeds as a city has considerable involvement with the ongoing Palestinian quest for justice. These include peace campaigners, trade unionists, faith groups and students including many who’ve visited the Occupied Palestinian Territories on eg olive picking  & football tours, as well as those fundraising & supporting humanitarian aid missions to Gaza via road & sea convoys.

The event is organised by the growing  Leeds Palestine Solidarity Campaign umbrella movement (see www.leedspsc.org.uk )

A spokesperson for the Leeds Palestine Solidarity Campaign said

“Come on Johnny, don’t  make a rotten decision, don’t play Israel ! .. You’ve got a great record on anti-racism – so why are you planning to support an apartheid state now ?

Don’t you know about more than 60 years of illegal occupation, the Wall, or the war-crimes in Gaza etc ?

Even those Israelis who aren’t your fans will celebrate your endorsement of their apartheid regime if you play.

We’re calling on your fans to tell you loud and clear – don’t support Israel  apartheid!

Cancel your Tel Aviv gig and heed the Palestinian call for boycott”.

A Facebook page “Johnny Rotten you ain’t no human being if u play the Israeli fascist regime” is already attracting hundreds of members – see http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=137938606218216 . Debate has raged across Leeds at http://www.leedsmusicforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=32013

But Lydon  has already hit back: (http://www.thejc.com/news/israel-news/35626/protests-wont-stop-johnny-rotten-playing-israel “Of course there’s all kind of politics going on down there. But there is just about all over the world. You cannot separate yourself from your audience because of political powers that be” &http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/johnny-rotten-dont-call-me-a-national-treasure-2026051.html “If Elvis-fucking-Costello wants to pull out of a gig in Israel because he’s suddenly got this compassion for Palestinians, then good on him. But I have absolutely one rule, right? Until I see an Arab country, a Muslim country, with a democracy, I won’t understand how anyone can have a problem with how they’re treated.”

Similar actions are being planned across the country ; upcoming gigs include :

London, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, UK, July 19th 2010
Bristol, O2 Academy, UK, July 20th 2010
Oxford, O2 Academy, UK, July 21st 2010
Leeds, O2 Academy, UK, July 23rd 2010
Liverpool, O2 Academy, UK, July 24th 2010
Glasgow, O2 ABC, UK, July 26th 2010

(http://www.johnlydon.com/tourdates.html)