Israel:
Singer boycotted for critizing the Israeli government

Filled with sly humor or sharp criticism of the country’s policies, Alberstein has taken a stand, criticizing Israel’s handling of the Palestinean uprisings. As a result, her music has been banned in the Israeli radio

Singer Chava Alberstein is among the most popular – and prolific – Israeli musicians. She has been called “Israel’s Joan Baez”. During the last 30 years she has recorded nearly 50 albums. The folk and pop singer has been slammed for her anti-government political views, challenging the popular belief in “benign occupation”.
During the first Palestinian uprising in the late 1980s – the Intifada – she recorded a traditional Passover song, ‘Chad Gadya’, with additional lyrics implicitly criticizing Israeli policies.
Starting with the traditional words, the lyrics then focused on the relationship between oppressor and oppressed and conclude, “Today I know who I am.”
An angry response followed.
A music-store owner in Beersheba told Alberstein he had dumped all her records out of his store. Then the Israel Broadcasting Authority and local radio stations banned the recording, and Alberstein received death threats. Although then attorney general Yosef Harish declared the ban an “unjustifiable violation of free expression,” the song has hardly been played since.

She was boycotted by certain groups, and there were even those who opposed her being invited to light a flame at the Independence Day celebrations of 1990.
Alberstein, however, stood fast by her convictions:
“It took time for people to understand,” she says: “Today people see that the occupation causes us to be violent.”