Coldplay co-founder Chris Martin recognized two Israeli fans as “equal humans on earth” after welcoming them onstage and appearing surprised to learn their country of origin.
“I’m treating you as equal humans on earth, regardless of where you come from,” Martin said, as if being from Israel left that question in doubt.
He added: “Although it’s controversial maybe I also want to welcome people in the audience from Palestine.”
The crowd greeted the revelation that the two fans were Israeli with a mixture of cheers and boos; the crowd’s reaction to Martin’s shout-out to “Palestine” was uniformly positive.
Reactions on social media were strongly negative. Some critics blasted Martin for condescending to the two women; anti-Israel critics slammed Martin for not being hostile to them once he learned they were Israeli.
Coldplay concerns have been the occasion for pro-Israel demonstrations in recent months. At a concert in Athens, pro-Israel fans began chanting “Bring them home!” after the band played its song “Yellow.”
Yellow is the color associated with the movement to free the hostages, which uses yellow ribbons to symbolize the demand for the hostages’ freedom.
Martin’s ex-wife, actress and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow, has been supportive of Israel.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Zionist Conspiracy Wants You, now available on Amazon. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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