World famous rock band, Radiohead, faced boo’s, chanting, and Palestinian flags on Friday night at the Glastonbury Festival in England where they were headlining. The band has stood strong against heavy criticism due to their refusal to give in to anti-Israel pressure to cancel their upcoming concert in Tel Aviv. Critically acclaimed and ranked 73rd in Rolling Stone‘s list of “The Greatest Artists of All Time”, the band performed masterfully.

“I’ll take a quiet life and I’ll take the money thanks” says @thomyorke to Netanyahu pic.twitter.com/3P7fLEqRul

— LDNPalestineAction (@LondonPalestine) June 23, 2017

As the band took to the stage, they were greeted with Palestinian flags, banners calling Israel an apartheid state, and chants of “Free Palestine”.

In February, as part of the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement, a  group of over 50 prominent artists signed a petition calling for Radiohead to cancel their show scheduled for July 19. Radiohead has played 8 concerts in Israel to date and has a strong fanbase in the Holy Land. In an interview with Rolling Stone earlier this month, frontman Thom Yorke responded.

“There’s an awful lot of people who don’t agree with the BDS movement, including us,” Yorke told Rolling Stone. “I don’t agree with the cultural ban at all, along with J.K. Rowling, Noam Chomsky and a long list of others.”

“The kind of dialogue that they want to engage in is one that’s black or white. I have a problem with that. It’s deeply distressing that they choose to, rather than engage with us personally, throw [stuff] at us in public. It’s deeply disrespectful to assume that we’re either being misinformed or that we’re so retarded we can’t make these decisions ourselves. I thought it was patronizing in the extreme. It’s offensive and I just can’t understand why going to play a rock show or going to lecture at a university [is a problem to them].”

Yorke noted that Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood has both Palestinian and Israeli friends, and an Arab-Jewish wife

“Just to assume that we know nothing about this,” he said. “Just to throw the word ‘apartheid’ around and think that’s enough. It’s such an extraordinary waste of energy. Energy that could be used in a more positive way.”

“They talk down to us and I just find it mind-boggling that they think they have the right to do that,” Yorke continued. “It’s extraordinary. All of this creates divisive energy. You’re not bringing people together. You’re not encouraging dialogue or a sense of understanding.”