Lahav Shani's disinvitation: What the festival says about accusations of anti-Semitism from Germany

The Flanders Festival Ghent, which begins on Friday, has withdrawn the invitations of Israeli conductor Lahav Shani and the Munich Philharmonic, who were scheduled to give a concert there on September 18. This has provoked outrage in Germany. Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer calls the withdrawal a "disgrace for Europe," while Bavaria's Minister of Culture Markus Blume speaks of "gross anti-Semitism ." The festival is now defending itself against these accusations in a statement issued on Thursday. According to artistic director Jan Van den Bossche, the cancellation was made "after careful consideration" and "in no way influenced by anti-Semitism."

"We've frequently hosted Israeli and Jewish musicians in the past, and we'll be doing so again next year," says Van den Bossche. "Even the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra has performed in Ghent several times. There's absolutely no mention of anti-Semitism here. Lahav Shani is also a fantastic artist."

The festival emphasizes that the cancellation is solely related to Shani's role as chief conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. "This orchestra finds itself in a very gray area today. We don't know where Shani stands in this conflict, and genocide, in our view, leaves no room for ambiguity," Van den Bossche said. The festival states that it gave Shani multiple opportunities to clarify his position, but received the response that no further clarification would be provided. "We did not proceed lightly."

Van den Bossche emphasizes that the festival's core mission remains intact. "What we want is solely to bring music, bring joy, and bring people together. For us, music is a unifying force, not a political statement."

PEN Berlin calls the actions of the Ghent Music Festival scandalous

PEN Berlin also criticized the exclusion of Lahav Shani, particularly the justification that Lahav Shani had not provided "the necessary clarity regarding his stance toward the genocidal regime." Whether this incident truly constitutes, as Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer says, a case of "outright anti-Semitism" remains to be seen, according to the statement on Thursday. However, it is undoubtedly scandalous that the officials at the Flanders Festival Ghent believe that the chief conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and future chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic must first answer how he feels about the policies of Benjamin Netanyahu's government before being allowed to conduct Schubert, Beethoven, and Wagner (!).

"Freedom of expression is not only the right to express oneself freely and without fear of reprisal; it also includes the right not to be forced to express oneself. Coercion to confess is a hallmark of authoritarian and even more so totalitarian regimes. Demanding confessions from artists violates the fundamental right to freedom of expression, just as it disregards the principle of the separation of art and artists. In this sense, the exclusion of Lahav Shani is, as Wolfram Weimer argues, an attack on the foundations of our culture."

Unfortunately, it's an attack of the kind that has become commonplace in Germany, especially since Hamas's attack on Israel. "And some of those who are now rightly outraged by Lahav Shani's disinvitation were quick elsewhere to call for the cancellation of artists because they hadn't distanced themselves from Hamas 'with the necessary clarity' – or because they sharply criticized the Israeli government."

PEN Berlin recalls the ideological scrutiny of Russian artists in connection with Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The false politicization of art had already begun back then. "The same Munich mayor, Dieter Reiter, who now declares he 'in no way understands' the organizer's decision to disinvite Lahav Shani, dismissed the then chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic, Valery Gergiev, three years ago because he had failed to comply with Reiter's request to 'clearly and unequivocally distance himself from the brutal war of aggression that Putin is waging against Ukraine.'"

"Gergiev and Shani's closeness to their respective governments may vary greatly, but the accusations against both are similar: It's not about what they said, but about what they didn't say," commented PEN Berlin spokesperson Thea Dorn. "Cancel culture and forced political affiliation are fundamentally to be rejected, and not just when they fit one's ideological concept."