BDSers Sadly Put ‘Tom Petty Boycott Israel’ Signs Away

Most of the activists remain unaware that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers did perform in Israel in 1987, as those activists were not yet born.

Nablus, October 3 – Following the passing last night of American pop icon Tom Petty, activists attempting to target the Jewish State with a cultural embargo forever stowed their placards and banners calling for him not to perform there.

Petty, 66, died after hospitalization for cardiac arrest, depriving the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions activists of further reason to invest in protests mentioning him and his group. Leaders of the movement voiced sorrow at the end of an era and the loss of a personality they could hound with sound, fury, and futility in an orgy of virtue-signaling and righteous rage.

“I’m devastated,” whispered Keyleigh Sutter, 22, who dropped out of Berkeley to spend several weeks in solidarity with Palestinians. “I’ve been waiting years to protest an announcement that Tom Petty would be performing in Israel, and now…” she trailed off. Without a word, Ms. Sutter put her “Boycott Israel, Mr. Petty – Apartheid is Never Pretty” and “We Won’t Back Down” posters behind the building where she is staying, next to yellowed, fading, and similarly irrelevant campaign posters from the last Palestinian elections in 2006.

“I’m a huge Tom Petty fan,” declared Raheem Hisan, shaking his head. “I was really, really hoping my two great passions would intersect – loving Tom Petty, and Jew-hatred dressed up as Palestinian patriotism. I share both those passions with so many people, but such an intersection will never happen again. Can I say intersection again? I just like intersectionality.”

Grieving over the lost opportunity to protest any Tom Petty performances in Israel has not been restricted to Palestinian areas. In fact, observers note, the most intense expressions of mourning have come from Europe and the Pacific coast of the US, with pockets of the sentiment palpable on college campuses further east. “There are washed-up entertainers who would kill to be associated in any way with a giant such as Tom Petty, and they try to attract attention by making loud, demonstrative political noises in response to those bigger, legitimate stars’ plans to play Israel,” explained music industry commentator Elvis Waters. “But now that Petty is gone, so is one more chance to exploit his fame.”

Most of the activists remain unaware that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers did perform in Israel in 1987, as those activists were not yet born. Their ignorance dovetails with the general ignorance – willful or otherwise – among anti-Israel activists regarding the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Jewish history, Palestinian history, political realities, economic realities, media bias, antisemitism, racism, Soviet propaganda, and human nature, among others.

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