Exclusive: Belgians cancel Munich Philharmonic over Israeli music director

The Flanders Festival Ghent, under pressure from activist groups and Belgian political authorities, has disinvited the Munich Philharmonic from a planned concert on September 18th.

The reason given for the cancellation was that Lahav Shani, who was born in Tel Aviv, also serves as the music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Munich has responded as follows:
The authorities of the City of Munich and the Munich Philharmonic are appalled by this decision. In both his artistic work and personal conduct, Lahav Shani stands for dialogue, humanism, and mutual understanding. We firmly reject the practice of placing Israeli artists under general suspicion and subjecting them to collective punishment. Excluding individuals from the stage, the concert hall, or other public venues based on their ethnic origin or religious affiliation constitutes an attack on fundamental European and democratic values.

Dieter Reiter, Mayor of the City of Munich: “The Munich Philharmonic, as cultural ambassadors of the City of Munich, stand for openness,
diversity, and dialogue — whether at home in Munich or on tour to concert halls across Europe and around the world. I find the decision of the festival’s organizers utterly incomprehensible. The City of Munich, and I personally, stand firmly with the Munich Philharmonic and with their future chief conductor, Lahav Shani.”

The cancellation is profoundly shocking, a limp capitulation by the Belgians to mob rule. Shani is a peace campaigner whose close association with Daniel Barenboim underlines his position on the Middle East conflict. Ghent is the third largest city in Belgium.

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