Talib Kweli: When I canceled the Israel show in solidarity with BDS, I got called n*****, and monkey

American rapper Talib Kweli said in an interview that he got trolled on social media by pro-Israel activists, who called him n*****, and monkey.

Kweli’s remark, which he made in the context of comparing pro-Palestine activists’ reactions to those of pro-Israel’s, was during an interview with uproxx.com.

“Whereas the pushback from the BDS and the supporters of Palestine that I got was…it was fierce. People were frustrated with me, people were upset with me, but for the most part, that community was respectful in their critique of me. It wasn’t any, “You’re a n*****, you’re a coon, you’re a monkey.” But when I canceled the Israel show in solidarity with BDS, I got called n*****, and monkey, and all types of sh*t from these Zionist trolls, and it immediately made me feel like I’d made the right decision”, he said.

“But you know it’s been gamers, it’s been anime fans, it’s been all types. The worst trolling I ever got in my life was when I canceled that Israel show. The Zionist trolls came at me. One troll was tweeting at me every two minutes, 24 hours a day for two weeks. I was finally like, “How are you able to do this?” He was like, “We’re working shifts, we’re not just one person””, he added.

Answering to a question about the reason why Germany canceled his show, Kweli said that “it wasn’t so much about support for BDS, it was about the fact that I canceled a show in Israel.”

“It seemed like they were saying, “you canceled a show in Israel so you’re antisemitic”, he said.

“And it’s interesting that Germany, with its fairly recent history of fascism, is now positioning itself as the moral authority on whether an artist is pushing antisemitism. I personally don’t think they have that right, to present themselves as the moral authority on what is antisemitic and what is not”, he added.

Kweli also slammed Germany’s decision to consider BDS and its supporters antisemitic.

“My question to Open Source and the German government would be, “What qualifies as hate speech?” Because what they’re saying is support for BDS is hate speech. Well, how? Show me on the BDS platform where there’s hate speech. You can’t, it’s not there, so let’s move to the next point. Are you saying that support for BDS is hate speech because you say that BDS supports Palestinian organizations that have committed terrorism? No, you can’t say that, either.”

Kweli was removed last month from the Open Source Festival in Düsseldorf, which made 103 artists, writers, and activists sign a letter condemning the decision.

Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, recently passed a resolution equating BDS with anti-Semitism. A move which has been condemned by human rights activists as it violates freedom of speech.