“Jerusalem, if I forget you, fire not gonna come from me tongue. Jerusalem, if I forget you, let my right hand forget what it’s supposed to do,” sang American Jewish singer Matisyahu at a reggae festival in Spain as protesters waved Palestinian flags.

“Three thousand years with no place to be, and they want me to give up my milk and honey ?”

Matisyahu performed Sunday at the Rototom SunSplash Festival in Valencia, two days after the festival apologized for canceling his performance in the face of pressure from the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement.

Some in the audience expressed disapproval when the artist took the stage, including chanting “out, out,” but many others among the thousands of people applauded the singer.

“Whoever you are and wherever you come from raise a flag and wave it in the air,” Matisyahu said before his closing song. “Let music be your flag.”

Later he posted on his Facebook page: “Tonight was difficult but special. Thank you to everyone who made it possible! Every chance to make music is a blessing.”

Last week the festival dropped Matisyahu from the program after he ignored requests that he issue a statement declaring his support for a Palestinian state.

The festival’ decision speaked condemnation from the Spanish government and Jewish groups. The musician himself said the festival organizers’ behavior had been “appalling and offensive.”

In a lengthy apology posted on Facebook last week, festival organizers wrote, “Rototom Sunsplash rejects anti-Semitism and any form of discrimination towards the Jewish community.”

The festival said it had cancelled Matisyahu’s performance under pressure from the BDS movement, citing a “campaign of pressure, coercion and threats” against it that stoked fears the festival would be disrupted and “prevented the organization from reasoning clearly.”

A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Madrid, Hamutal Rogel, said that in the Spanish media Matisyahu’s performance was seen as a “victory of pluralism and music against pressure.”

She explained that much of the Spanish media was looking at the affair from a particular Spanish context, and likened the BDS tactics to those used by Basque separatists, tactics which are very unpopular in Spain.

Opposition to the threatening tactics used against the festival spawned criticism on both the Left and the Right of the Spanish political spectrum, she added.

She spoke of a ‘’huge public opinion victory’’ over BDS. “BDS tried to present itself up until now as a human rights organization, but over the last week was seen in the Spanish press as a violent organization.”

Rogel however expressed concern that the attention paid to this story may scare off organizers of other music and film festivals which may not have anything against Israel, or want to boycott it, but will simply weigh whether or not it is worth the headache of inviting Israeli artists or films.

by Maud Swinnen