Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke claims the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7, 2023 and the response by Israel to rescue its citizens sparked “intimidation and defamation” by “opportunistic groups” that hurt his mental health before asking: “Why haven’t the hostages been returned?”
The Times of Israel reports Yorke posted an extended statement to Instagram lamenting the pressure he had faced to comment on the war, saying it had affected him deeply.
Then he proceeded to write, “For those who need to know.. let me fill in the blanks.” The outlet noted:
He began by saying that he had regretted not speaking out when he was heckled during a concert in Melbourne last year. After briefly engaging with the heckler, a pro-Palestinian concert-goer who wanted him to condemn “the Israeli genocide in Gaza,” Yorke stormed off the stage.
“I remained in shock that my supposed silence was somehow being taken as complicity, and I struggled to find an adequate way to respond to this and to carry on with the rest of the shows on the tour,” he wrote, per the Times article.
“That silence, my attempt to show respect for all those who are suffering and those who have died, and to not trivialize it in a few words, has allowed other opportunistic groups to use intimidation and defamation to fill in the blanks, and I regret giving them this chance,” he added. “This has had a heavy toll on my mental health.”
Yorke further condemned “[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his crew of extremists,” whom he said the international community should continue to pressure.
The leader of the British rock group previously criticized Netanyahu in 2017, when Radiohead performed in Israel over the objection of pro-Palestinian advocates.
“I believe this ultranationalist administration has hidden itself behind a terrified and grieving people and used them to deflect any criticism, using that fear and grief to further their ultranationalist agenda with terrible consequences,” he wrote.
Yorke also criticized Hamas along with its “truly horrific acts” and suggested pro-Palestinian demonstrators were ignoring the group’s intrinsic barbarity, as the Times report noted.
“The unquestioning Free Palestine refrain that surrounds us all does not answer the simple question of why the hostages have still not all been returned. For what possible reason?” he wrote. “Why did Hamas choose the truly horrific acts of October 7? The answer seems obvious, and I believe Hamas chooses to hide behind the suffering of its people in an equally cynical fashion for their own purposes.”
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