Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever (N-VA) has described the cancellation of the performance by Israeli conductor Lahav Shani by the Ghent Festival of Flanders as "reckless and irresponsible, to say the least."
The Munich Philharmonic was scheduled to perform on 18 September in the Bijloke venue in Ghent under the baton of its future chief conductor, the Israeli Lahav Shani.
According to the organisers, there is "insufficient clarity regarding the conductor's attitude toward the genocidal regime." Flemish Culture Minister Caroline Gennez (Vooruit) subsequently announced that the Ghent Festival of Flanders can count on her support.
"This decision is causing great consternation in Germany and is being described as antisemitic," De Wever stated in a statement. "Imposing a professional ban on someone solely because of their background is reckless and irresponsible, to say the least."
De Wever further calls it "relatively unheard of that artists should have to substantiate their ideas in writing." According to him, this is the opposite of artistic freedom and tarnishes the reputation of Flanders and the country as a whole.
Meanwhile, party leader of the Francophone liberal MR Georges-Louis Bouchez also responded to the incident on Thursday evening, calling the cancellation a disgrace and adding that Gennez should resign as a minister.
"Are we now going to ask all Belgians for their position on colonisation to determine whether or not we can program them according to the criteria of so-called virtue? This is political policing tainted with antisemitism," Bouchez wrote in a message on social media. "It is the opposite of what culture should be. Minister Gennez should resign for such an attitude."
