Letter to the Forward in response to "Whose art is it anyway? Inside the cultural battle between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters"

Though I appreciate Mira Fox considering my music part of the artistic canon ("Whose art is it anyway? Inside the cultural battle between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters," May 17), a clarification: others' political use of my music is not an act of interpretation. It is wrongful appropriation. This is similar to George W. Bush's use of Tom Petty's “I Won't Back Down” as part of his presidential campaign in 2000. The difference is that Bush's campaign was a coherent organization to whom a "cease and desist" letter could be delivered. Masked anti-Israel protestors avoid even the accountability of showing their faces. As Fox wrote, the intentions of dead artists can be hard to divine. I'm alive and making mine clear.

Rabbi Menachem Creditor

May 19, 2024