Report: BBC to cut Israel 'apartheid' comments from UK concert broadcast

Violinist's Nigel Kennedy dedicates show to Palestinian people.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Nigel Kennedy 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Nigel Kennedy 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The BBC was reportedly set to cut remarks about “apartheid” in Israel made by a British violinist when his concert as part of a British music festival is aired next week in the UK, Al-Arabiya reported.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s a bit facile to say it but we all know from experiencing this night of music tonight that giving equality and getting rid of apartheid means there’s a chance for amazing things to happen,” Nigel Kennedy said while introducing artists from the Palestine Strings troupe at the Proms music festival on August 8.
“The concert tonight is very emotional, because I am performing for people who are imprisoned, to give them two hours of fun and show them that the world has not forgotten about them,” Al-Arabiya quoted the musician as saying while dedicating the show to the Palestinian people at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
A BBC representative told Al-Arabiya that comments made by Kennedy likening the situation in Israel to apartheid in South Africa were cut for “editorial reasons.”
“Nigel’s comment to the audience at his late-night prom on August 8 will not be included in the deferred BBC 4 broadcast on August 23 because it does not fall within the editorial remit of the proms as a classical music festival,” Al-Arabiya quoted the BBC representative as saying.
According to the report, Kennedy has refused to hold concerts in Israel, but has played in a Palestinian-organized festival in east Jerusalem.