met so many people who changed their lives after they listened to our music . That ’ s always amazing to hear .
On your most recent tour , you played a show in Tel Aviv , Israel . This has caused some controversy online where you had to defend the country from boycotters and even the Israeli left-wing . Why were you so adamant to play Israel ?
I am very pro-Israel . Many people on the Left never liked that about me and I have made quite a few enemies over the decades because of that . Interviews were canceled , business opportunities were lost , musical collaborations had to be ended . I don ' t have to mention Neo-Nazis because it ' s obvious what their world view is .
Collectivism is always a threat to each individual . I see myself as an anarchist libertarian . So I am not part of the left / right thing in politics . I try to see it from an objectivist viewpoint . I have lived my life , made my decisions based on two basic principles : 1 .) Never work , live or spend time with anti-semites . To deny the Jewish people the right to self-determination ( to me that means , in reality , self-governing - having a state ) is anti-semitic . There are enough reasons why Israel had to be re-established - one is the evidence of how much damage anti-semitism can do , not only to Jewish people but to a whole society . Germany was almost completely destroyed because of antisemitism . I would even argue that the Democrats lost the US election because they allowed anti-semitism to undermine their credibility . Pick people in your life wisely . When someone starts singling out Jews and Israel , points fingers and blames them for all evils in the world , you cut ties and walk away . Because these types of people are destined for destruction and failure . 2 .) When you see a socialist come your way , run in the opposite direction as fast as you can . Don ’ t waste your time . The history of zionism has inspired me since I was a kid . Of course , sitting in West-Berlin surrounded by the Berlin Wall back then , I probably idealised it a lot . Bob Marley , Martin Luther King , all these great people spoke about it . To me the fact that the Jewish people who were expelled from their homeland , returned and took back control and built a country like Israel is so amazing . Perhaps the most exciting story ever . I call it a blue print for freeing oneself from oppression and slavery .
When I visited Israel for the first time in 2014 and arrived in Jerusalem , I was very moved . And then I came back to Berlin … the BDS mob had waited for me online . I had become a target on Twitter and Facebook , a few hundred BDS ‘ activists ’ bullied me , sent me death threats for days . It was insane . To my surprise nobody came to help . People stood by like cowards and watched . I cut ties to about 150 people that I knew in the Berlin music scene alone after that but I had an advantage ; I knew how to deal with bullies . I have a long experience and it doesn ’ t get to me . It ’ s the opposite . I love walking towards the fire . I don ’ t care about approval of the collective , peer pressure or anything like that . If something is wrong , and I have to fight it alone , I will do it . So when we announced the show in Tel Aviv , I thought we can ignore these people and simply block them but then I decided to respond , so our fans were able to understand what we are dealing with here . And we received a lot of positive feedback , mostly in the form of email or direct messages .
To me cultural dialogue is everything . It is why I exist . So BDS is a threat to my existence . Nobody needs to panic about BDS . BDS is a magnet for charlatans and con artists because it is based on deception and lies . That ’ s why they are failing . If they manage to get to a popular artist , then it ’ s because the artist doesn ’ t have knowledge about Israel . When someone who is smart looks deeper into what ’ s actually happening in Israel and why , even travels there … he / she will find out the truth and see that he / she was tricked by jew haters . In my opinion , Israelis have very critical views of their government , they can handle the political challenges they face . I am convinced that Israel needs our support more than ever right now ! What it doesn ’ t need is ‘ criticism ’ from amateur leftists who were incited by some “ Free Palestine ” blog or something and then call for the destruction of Israel and indirectly promote killing Jews with that .
Is there anywhere you haven ' t played that you really wish to play one day ?
Now that we ' ve played Tel Aviv , we would love to go back and play other places in Israel one day .
What are both your and ATR ' s plans for the upcoming future ?
We are recording a new album at the moment and the next shows are scheduled for Spring 2017 . My new album , the soundtrack to the film Volt , is also out on 3rd February through Dependant Records .
Words by Jonathan Miller
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