Israel Boycott Backfires: Yogi Tea Severs Ties with Spanish Music Festival that Disinvited Matisyahu
In recent months, opponents of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel have begun to turn its tactics against it. In May, the Illinois legislature unanimously approved a bill that barred the state from investing its pension funds in companies that boycott Israel, effectively boycotting the boycotters. The next month, a similar law passed in South Carolina, preventing state agencies from contracting with any business that boycotts others “based on race, color, religion, gender, or national origin.”
Now, the anti-BDS backlash has begun to spread to individual companies. Last night, Yogi Tea announced that it was ending its association with the Rototom Sunsplash Festival in response to the Spanish reggae gathering’s attempt to disinvite American-Jewish artist Matisyahu unless he made his views known on Zionism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The cancellation of the singer’s performance was widely viewed as anti-Semitic and denounced by the Spanish government. In response to the cavalcade of criticism, the festival apologized for its actions, blamed “coercion and threats employed by the BDS País Valencià,” and reinvited Matisyahu.