The UK-Australian pianist who was cancelled by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra after making unacceptable remarks on the Gaza situation has issued this clarification through his PR agency:
For clariy (sic), we are releasing the comments made by Jayson Gillham during his performance on Sunday, 11 August at Melbourne Town Hall, presented by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra:
During the concert, Mr Gillham introduced each work, including the world premiere of “Witness” by composer Conor D’Netto. With Mr D’Netto’s express permission, Mr Gillham provided context for the piece, referencing the tragic deaths of journalists in Gaza—a topic of significant personal importance to him. A full transcript of his comments is below:
Over the last 10 months, Israel has killed more than one hundred Palestinian journalists. A number of these have been targeted assassinations of prominent journalists as they were travelling in marked press vehicles or wearing their press jackets. The killing of journalists is a war crime in international law, and it is done in an effort to prevent the documentation and broadcasting of war crimes to the world.
In addition to the role of journalists who bear witness, the word Witness in Arabic is Shaheed, which also means Martyr. Mr Gillham is not making any further statement at this time.
Slippedisc analysis:
The issue of journalists killed in Gaza is heatedly contested. The named Gaza fatalities were, on the whole, local residents, some of whom worked either directly for Hamas or with Hamas consent, according to independent sources. A minority, the Israelis say, took an active part in the massacres of October 7. There is no conclusive evidence on either side to support Gillham’s contentious statement, which demonstrated his personal bias in the conflict.
Gillham wrote, in a recent social media post: ‘If you are friends with friends of Israel, you need new friends.’
The vast majority of the world’s Jews are – by family or personal links – ‘friends with friends of Israel.’ Gillham’s position is definedly antisemitic.
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