Ariel Zilber's "Acceptance Speech"

At last night's ACUM awards ceremony, Ariel Zilber took the stage as Mosh Ben Ari started to perform a cover of Zilber's song "V'Eich Shelo" and apologized to Ben Ari for interrupting, but said that he had some things he really wanted to say. Zilber addressed the controversy around his Lifetime Achievement Award being rescinded due to pressure initiated and promoted by left-wing singer Ahinoam Nini, without mentioning her by name.

"I apologize for interrupting the song, but I have something to say. . . . I would like to thank the members of ACUM for awarding me the Lifetime Achievement Award--thank you very much.

"I am the grandson of Aryeh and Sara Zilber, of blessed memory, who were among the founders of Tel Aviv, in the distant past. I am the son of Bracha Tzifra, of blessed memory, who was influential in defining Israeli music, and Ben Ami Zilber, a violinist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. I am from here, from this land, and am thankful for that fact every day. I am like a lone pine tree [a reference to one of his most popular songs--ed.], standing against fire and water, expressing my feelings through notes.

"All of this divisiveness is not easy for me. I am against boycotts and in favor of allowing a person to express their opinion. I am a proud Jew and Israeli. Let's remain connected to one another through [the prism of] our childhood memories.(Those are not my words, but the words of Yuval Nissenboim, my producer.)

". . . Alongside the feelings of happiness and love--'Love thy neighbor as thy love thyself'--I feel that I have been made the punching bag for groups with agendas and frustrated artists who are constantly trying to reinvent my 'extremism.'

"Now, in my own words, I'd like to say--the members of the ACUM directorate have trampled the right of the artist to express their own opinion, they have divorced the songs from the artist. . . . They told me (they were rewarding me for) songs from a long time ago. But don't the songs I have written recently count? Songs born of all sorts of thoughts I have, (for example) a song about a shark and sardines [a reference to a protest song he released in 2008], does that count, or just those songs that are meaningless? I'd like to know if that was their intent. . . . What can you do? There is a person behind the songs. You missed a golden opportunity to be an example of unity in the nation and the freedom of opinion that we so need.

"I would return the prize, but I cannot turn my back on the outpouring of love and support I have received over the last few days. . . .

"At first I thought it was only the directorate, but then I found out that Yurik Ben David said that he doesn't see anything wrong with disqualifying someone because of his political views.

I would (like to) shut down ACUM (as it is today) and build a new ACUM, one that said there is room for every opinion in this nation; like in the Talmud, where every person has at least 10 different opinions, and everyone (freely) expresses all those opinions. And ACUM (today) is not fulfilling its mission. . . .

"That's what I have to say. I am an Israeli and a Jew, one of you. I stand here as a strong pine tree in the eye of the storm. (ACUM,) Get down off the tree. . . ."

 After the ceremony, Zilber told reporters, "I will not let these leftists destroy my life."

A Well-Deserved Prize and a Shameful Snub

"It's a very important thing to learn to talk to people you disagree with."

- Pete Seeger

A couple of weeks ago, ACUM, the Israeli organization that licenses and collects royalties for creators'/artists' works, announced that it would be giving its coveted 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award to songwriter/artist Ariel Zilber. ACUM's statement upon announcing the prize was, "Zilber's work stands out in its originality and its freshness, with its fusion of ethnic and modern music styles. We recognize that Zilber has redefined the musical mainstream [in Israel--ed.] by bringing fringe music to the center." (My loose translation.)

Although Zilber's career started as a songwriter for artists in France and Israel in the late '60s/early '70s, he became well-known in Israel in the mid-'70s, as a member of the successful band Tammuz, along with Shalom Chanoch. After Tammuz, Zilber launched a very successful solo career that spanned the mid-'70s through the end of the '80s. After a break of several years, Zilber returned to the public eye with strong right-wing statements that the press and many of his contemporaries branded controversial. (He has since publicly apologized for the most controversial and hurtful of those statements.) As a result, many famous Israeli musicians refused to appear with him, and he was pushed to the edges of the Israeli musical scene. During the time of the expulsion of the Jews from Gush Katif and the Gaza Strip, Zilber moved his home to one the Northern Gaza communities and was a vocal opponent of the plan, writing and performing strong protest songs about the politics of the day. At that time he also started becoming religiously observant. When he released his 2008 album, Politically Correct (an album full of right-wing protest songs), none of Israel's music distributors would put it in the stores and he was forced to sell it independently. It took him until 2011 to find a national distributor to put the album on the shelves and make it available to the general public.

 

When Zilber's Lifetime Achievement Award was announced, another prominent prize winner for this year's ACUM ceremony, Achinoam Nini (Noa), announced that she would not accept her prize nor appear at the ceremony, as she refuses to share the stage with Zilber. Nini is well known for her radical left-wing views, views that are as far to the left as Zilber's are right (if not farther). Nini's very public opposition to Zilber receiving the prize made headlines across the Israeli press, and resulted in vocal support of rescinding the award from ACUM director Dalia Rabin (the late prime minister's daughter). Ultimately, ACUM decided yesterday to reduce the prize to a "Prize for Contribution to Music"--a watered-down prize (with a much smaller monetary award attached to it). Despite this slap in the face, Zilber has announced he will attend the ceremony and accept the prize as well as speak at the event.

Pete Seeger, who passed away last week, was considered the "father" of the protest song. His protest came with a well-formed and strong left-wing socialist/(non-Soviet) communist agenda, but I have no doubt he would have been more than willing to sit down with Zilber and discuss their very different world views and political approaches over a few cups of coffee and a good meal.

 Music is a powerful communication tool. If you use it to express your opinion while being open to hearing opposing viewpoints, like Seeger did, you use it wisely and for good. If you use your music and popularity to boycott and spread hate, you are abusing the power of music. Nini has used her popularity and the power of her music to boycott and quash all possible discussion and discourse. If you don't agree with her politics, you are persona non-grata, not worthy of even being in the same room as her, not to mention engaging in a civil and meaningful discussion about your opposing views. Unfortunately, this is nothing new for Nini, who ahs a long history of this sort of behavior. Zilber, at least, is using this opportunity for communication, and despite the politically-motivated snub, is not boycotting and not reacting with anger or hate.

Whether you agree with his politics or not, whether your worldview is close to his or far from it, Ariel Zilber's music and songs have had a lasting impact on the Israeli music scene, and he deserves recognition for his career and his important body of work. More power to you, Ariel Zilber; even if ACUM won't award you a Lifetime Achievement Award, we do (with no monetary compensation attached, unfortunately). More power to you.