The Coldplay Effect (updated June 6)

Cairo has just shut off the Rafah Crossing to Gaza after having opened it for only four days, providing a temporary relief for the occupants who have been cut off from the world since June 2007.

The passage was shut down, of course, due to American pressure on the military administration of Egypt that forms the interim government prior to the first democratic election.

In other news Coldplay has stirred outrage among Zionists by linking to the protest song for the Palestinian cause, Freedom for Palestine, on their Facebook page.

Last year Zionist bloggers were gloating that the list of 150 Irish artists pledging to boycott Israel didn't amount to a list of very notable names, whereas megastars like Elton John, Paul McCartney, Madonna and Metallica ignored the boycott.

In May this year rock legend Deep Purple stated that artists who boycott Israel are "whimps."

Here's a brief list of prominent artists (and intellectuals) who take a stance in the Middle East Conflict, based on random media coverage I've come across.

Carlo Strenger, on Haaretz, predicts that "...Israel will have to go through the full South Africa treatment before it turns around" from the unwavering no-negotiation stance taken by Netanyahu in his recent confrontation with US president Barack Obama and speech to the US Congress.

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) was first initiated on 9 July 2005 by 171 Palestinian non-governmental organizations "... for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel until it complies with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights."

The three stated goals of the campaign are:

• An end to Israel's "occupation and colonization of all Arab lands", as well as "dismantling of the Wall"
• Israeli recognition of the "fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality"
• Israeli respect, protection, and promotion of "the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194.

A part of the BDS is the BIG campaign to Boycott Israeli Goods, covering especially products originated in the illegal Israeli settlements and supermarkets trading them.

Even though rock stars and Zionist pundits alike scoff at the BDS, it is slowly gaining traction, and the political and economic realities has prompted Israeli companies to group in an effort to suggest alternatives to Netanyahu's unrelenting stance.

Israeli lawmakers are pursuing their own boycott of firms helping to build Rawabi, the first new Palestinian city on the West Bank. Israel has also intensified its PR effort and arm-twisting maneuvres to a dangerous level, where it is about to bring exposure to the unetichal and undemocratic tactics employed by Israel to turn public opinion in its favor:

...we have been contacted by many journalists, especially from the BBC, and told of the intense pressures they are under that limit criticism of Israel. They asked us to raise the issue in public because they can't. They speak of "waiting in fear for the phone call from the Israelis" (meaning the embassy or higher), of the BBC's Jerusalem bureau having been "leant on by the Americans", of being "guilty of self-censorship" and of "urgently needing an external arbiter".

The Israeli army has announced new harsh guidelines, not dissimilar from the clamp-downs on protesters in the Arab dictatorships. The Naksa Day massacre on June 5, 2011, where 23 unarmed civilians were gunned in the Golan Heights by the border of Syria for a "provocation", proves that Israel is intent on enforcing it.

‎"Soon, Israelis will find themselves global pariahs, much as white South Africans were for a time."

The words come from ‎Robert L Grenier, retired Director of the CIA Counter-Terrorism Center (CTC) 2004-2006, Iraq Mission Manager of CIA activities in Iraq (2002-2004), former CIA Chief of Station in Islamabad, deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia, former CIA chief of operational training and lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Openly boycotting

Gill Scott-Heron (recently deceased)

Elvis Costello

The Pixies
Roger Waters
The Klaxons
Gorillaz Sound System
Devendra Banhart
Arundhati Roy
John Berger
Ken Loach
Naomi Klein
Meg Ryan

Supporting Palestine

Coldplay
Lowkey
Outlandish

Uncertain

Carlos Santana
Vanessa Paradis
Snoop Dogg

Not boycotting

Paul McCartney
Leonard Cohen
Elton John
Madonna
Joan Armatrading
Bob Dylan
Rihanna
Metallica
Rod Stewart
Diana Krall
Linkin Park
Macy Gray
Suzanne Vega
DJ Shadow
DJ Tiesto
U2
Cohen Brothers

Banned

Noam Chomsky
Cat Stevens

If you are aware of changes or additions to the list, or you become aware of them, I would very much appreciate a notification or a comment.