Thursday, July 28, 2016

Carlos Santana lands in Israel

Carlos Santana has landed in Tel Aviv, defying an unrelenting campaign of bullying directed not only him,   but his Milagros non-profit as well.   The Mexican music legend will rock HaYarkon Park Saturday night, and will be performing with his original 11 member band. 

photo from the Creative Community for Peace
In an interview  with Ynet,  Santana announced that the majority of the proceeds from his show would be channeled back into the community, to help Israeli and Palestinian children.

Who could possibly object?

In a last ditch effort to bully the Grammy award winning guitarist into caving to their demands,  BDS holes orchestrated  an onslaught on social media,spamming both his Twitter feed and his Facebook page with their spurious claims. It  wasn't exactly a spontaneous grassroots effort.




In response to the vitriol directed towards him, Santana responded:

I'm doing something constructive and productive with my light and my energy. The majority of the funds from this concert will go back into Palestine children and Israeli children. There was a friend of mine who used to say 'Stop whining complaining and bitching. Do something construction or shut the heck up'...I'm doing something from the center of my heart ...

Thousands are looking forward to hearing more of Carlos Santana's light, love, and magic at HaYarkon Park tomorrow.



3 comments:

ketzel said...

I'm glad he's defying the boycott, but I'm cynical enough to wonder where the money will end up. I checked a few of the top Google results, and they all say "Palestinian and Israeli children."

Which children would that be, and where, and what. Any Jewish children included, or only Israeli Arab children? Who is getting the money, and what will they use it for? Sorry, when I read vague things like "donating to children," it doesn't sound good to me.

For instance, if I were an old has-been pop star, and I wanted to make a charitable donation, I'd say to the YNET inteviewer, We expect to take in XXXX shekels, and we have some great charities lined up: the food bank in Sderot, etc. etc. What he's saying is often code for far-left anti-Israel groups.

Unknown said...

Good question Ketzel. I'd like to know too.

ketzel said...

I found the answer at the Jerusalem Post. Santana will donate to Hand in Hand, a foundation that runs several schools for Jewish and Arab children. Personally, I'm still a bit suspicious of this sort of thing, because these ecumenical efforts often have the kind of Jews who are really on the other side, or are naive enough to allow enemies to use them. But, it's good to know that Santana himself has provided more details than at Ynet and a few other sources. Why don't they teach journalists to be clear about money? It's just rude and makes everyone look shady.

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Santana-and-BDS-460584

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_in_Hand:_Center_for_Jewish-Arab_Education_in_Israel