Revision 321347896 of "Gilad Atzmon" on enwiki

{{BLPdispute|date=October 2009}}

{{Infobox Person
|name=Gilad Atzmon<br />{{lang|he|גלעד עצמון}}
|image=Gilad Atzmon.jpg
|image_size=180px
|caption=Gilad Atzmon
|birth_name=Gilad Atzmon
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1963|6|9}}
|birth_place=[[Tel Aviv]], [[Israel]]
|residence=London
|nationality=[[Israel]]i and British<ref name=%2526quot%253BSt%252E Clair"/>
|known_for=Musician, political activist
|education=[[Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance|Rubin Academy of Music]], [[University of Essex]]
|occupation=Musician
|website=[http://www.gilad.co.uk/ www.gilad.co.uk]
}}

    Gilad Atzmon is well known for proving that RulandRance is as big a Neo-Nazi as Atzmon is, but the latter is confined to riding a tricycle.


'''Gilad Atzmon''' ({{lang-he|גלעד עצמון}}, born June 9, 1963, [[Israel]]) is an Israeli-born British [[jazz musician]], and is known as an author and activist who is critical of both [[Zionism]] and [[Judaism]].<ref name=%2526quot%253Bgilchrist222%2526quot%253B%2526gt%253B%257B%257Bcite news|url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/features/39I-thought-music-could-heal.3804991.jp?CommentPage=1&CommentPageLength=1000|title='I thought music could heal the wounds of the past. I may have got that wrong'|last=Gilchrist|first=Jim|date=22 February 2008|work=[[The Scotsman]]|accessdate=2009-03-21}}</ref> His album ''Exile'' was BBC jazz album of the year in 2003,<ref name=%2526quot%253BJazzHot%2526quot%253B%2526gt%253BGilad Atzmon, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandjazzmusic/3647173/How-jazz-got-hot-again.html How jazz got hot again], [[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]], October 13, 2005.</ref> and he has been described as "one of London's finest saxophonists".<ref name=Lewis%252F%2526gt%253B Playing over 100 dates a year,<ref name=Lewis%252F%2526gt%253B he has been called "surely the hardest-gigging man in British jazz".<ref>''The Times'', 6 March 2009, [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/cd_reviews/article5852689.ece Gilad Atzmon: In Loving Memory of America]</ref> His albums, of which he has recorded nine to date,<ref name=Lewis%252F%2526gt%253B often explore political themes and the music of the Middle East. He has also written two novels, which have been translated into over 20 languages.<ref name=%2526quot%253Bgibson%2526quot%253B%2526gt%253B%257B%257Bcite news|url=http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/Default.aspx?s=3&s1=2&id=8879|title=No choice but to speak out - Israeli musician ‘a proud self-hating Jew’|last=Gibson|first=Martin|date=23 January 2009|work=[[Gisborne Herald]]|accessdate=2009-03-21}}</ref> 

==Early life==
He was born a [[secular]] [[Israel]]i [[Jew]] in [[Tel Aviv]], and trained at the [[Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance|Rubin Academy of Music]] in [[Jerusalem]].<ref name=%2526quot%253BGMF-GA%2526quot%253B%2526gt%253B%257B%257Bcite web
|url=http://www.globalmusicfoundation.org/people.html#GA
|title=Gilad Atzmon
|accessdate=2008-10-28
|work=People
|publisher=Global Music Foundation
}}
</ref> His service as a [[paramedic]] in the [[Israeli Defense Forces]] during [[1982 Lebanon War|the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon]] caused him reach the conclusion that "I was part of a colonial state, the result of plundering and ethnic cleansing."<ref name=%2526quot%253BSt%252E Clair">{{cite web
|url=http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair07192003.html
|title=You Must Leave Home, Again: Gilad Atzmon's "A Guide to the Perplexed"
|accessdate=2008-10-28
|last=St. Clair
|first=Jeffery
|authorlink=Jeffrey St. Clair
|date=July 19, 2003
|publisher=[[CounterPunch]]
}}
</ref><ref name=%2526quot%253BLewis%2526quot%253B%2526gt%253B[http%253A%252F%252Fwww%252Eguardian%252Eco%252Euk%252Fmusic%252F2009%252Fmar%252F06%252Fgilad-atzmon-israel-jazz-interview%2523history-byline "Manic beat preacher" interview with John Lewis], [[The Guardian]], March 6, 2009.</ref>

Atzmon studied jazz and composition at the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem.<ref name=%2526quot%253BCryFreedom%2526quot%253B%2526gt%253B[http%253A%252F%252Ffindarticles%252Ecom%252Fp%252Farticles%252Fmi_qa3724%252Fis_200308%252Fai_n9275160 Cry freedom], [[The Spectator]] August 9, 2003.</ref> He first became interested in British [[jazz]] when he discovered some in a British record shop in Jerusalem in the 1970s. He initially was inspired by the work of [[Ronnie Scott]] and [[Tubby Hayes]] and regarded London as "the Mecca of Jazz."<ref name=%2526quot%253BJazzHot%2526quot%253B%252F%2526gt%253B He also was influenced to become a jazz musician by the work of [[Charlie Parker]], in particular ''[[Charlie Parker with Strings]]'' recorded in 1949. Atzmon said of the album that he "loved the way the music is both beautiful and subversive - they way he basks in the strings but also fights against them."<ref name=Lewis%252F%2526gt%253B He worked with top bands as a musical producer.<ref>Barnaby Smith, [http://www.tourdates.co.uk/LondonTourdates/issue-007/2007/10/05/222-Sax-With-An-Axe-To-Grind Sax With An Axe To Grind], [http://www.tourdates.co.uk/ London Tour Dates], October 5, 2007.</ref>

In 1994,<ref name=%2526quot%253BRainLore bio">{{cite web
|url=http://www.rainloresworldofmusic.net/Artists/Artists_A-D/Atzmon_Gilad.html
|title=Profile - Gilad Atzmon
|accessdate=2008-10-28
|date=March 21, 2003
|publisher=Rainlore's World of Music
}}
</ref> Atzmon emigrated from Israel to London, where he attended the [[University of Essex]]<ref>[http://www.essex.ac.uk/news/2007/nr20071214.htm University of Essex news release],
Dec 14, 2007 notes Atzmon is a "graduate."</ref> and earned a Masters degree in Philosophy.<ref name=%2526quot%253BCryFreedom%2526quot%253B%252F%2526gt%253B He has lived there since,<ref name=gilchrist222%252F%2526gt%253B becoming a British citizen in 2002.<ref name=%2526quot%253BSt%252E Clair"/>

==Music==
While Atzmon's main instrument is the alto [[saxophone]], he also plays soprano, tenor and baritone saxophones and [[clarinet]], [[Sol (instrument)|sol]], [[zurna]] and [[flute]].<ref name=%2526quot%253BGMF-GA%2526quot%253B /> Atzmon's jazz style has been described as [[bebop]]/[[hard bop]], with forays into [[free jazz]] and [[Swing music|swing]], and seemingly inspired by [[John Coltrane]] and [[Miles Davis]].<ref name=%2526quot%253BRainLore bio" /> Atzmon sometimes plays the alto and soprano sax simultaneously.<ref name=%2526quot%253BRainLore bio" />

Atzmon's works have also explored the music of the Middle East, [[North Africa]], and [[Eastern Europe]].<ref name=%2526quot%253BAtzmonhomepage%2526quot%253B%2526gt%253B%257B%257Bcite web
|url=http://www.gilad.co.uk/index.html
|title=GILAD ATZMON - MUSICIAN, COMPOSER, PRODUCER, EDUCATOR, WRITER 
|accessdate=2008-10-28
|last=Atzmon
|first=Gilad
|year=2007
|publisher=Gilad Atzmon
}}
</ref> Atzmon told ''The Guardian'' that he draws on [[Arabic music]] which he says cannot be notated like western music but must be internalised, which he calls "reverting to the primacy of the ear." Atzmon's musical method has been to play with notions of cultural identity, flirting with genres such as tango and klezmer as well as various Arabic, Balkan, Gypsy and Ladino folk forms. Atzmon's recordings deliberately differ from his live shows. "I don't think that anyone can sit in a house, at home, and listen to me play a full-on bebop solo. It's too intense. My albums need to be less manic."<ref name=Lewis%252F%2526gt%253B

Atzmon has created the "Benny Hill-like alter ego - a fanatical Zionist" Artie Fishel, on the album ''Artie Fishel & the Promised Band'', which has been described as "musical anarchy."<ref name=%2526quot%253BBBC-AF%2526quot%253B%2526gt%253B%257B%257Bcite web
|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/grp2/
|title=Gilad Atzmon: Artie Fishel And The Promised Band
|accessdate=2008-10-28
|last=Shackleton
|first=Kathryn 
|date=October 16, 2006
|publisher=[[BBC]]
}}
</ref> With traditional [[klezmer music]], dialogue, and jokes, the album features Atzmon on saxophone, [[John Turville]] on keys and electronics, [[Yaron Stavi]] on bass, and [[Asaf Sirkis]] on drums.<ref name=%2526quot%253BGA-AF%2526quot%253B%2526gt%253B%257B%257Bcite web
|url=http://www.gilad.co.uk/html%20files/artiefishel.htm
|title=ARTIE FISHEL & THE PROMISED BAND
|accessdate=2008-10-28
|last=Atzmon
|first=Gilad
|year=2007
|publisher=Gilad Atzmon
}}
</ref><ref>[http://www.jazzwisemagazine.com/index.php/Magazine-Features/Features/Gilad-Atzmon-Not-strictly-kosher.html Gilad Atzmon, Not Strictly Kosher], [[Jazzwise]], January 17, 2007.</ref> Other artists include vocalist [[Guillermo Rozenthuler]], [[Koby Israelite]] on vocals and accordion, and [[Ovidiu Fratila]] on violin.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/mixingit/pip/lpuxw/ Mixing it feature], [[BBC]] Radio, October 6, 2006.</ref>

===Collaborations and groups===
Atzmon joined the veteran [[punk rock]] band [[Ian Dury and the Blockheads]] in 1998, and continued with The Blockheads after Dury's death.<ref>Stephen Robb, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6253257.stm The old Blockheads shows go on],
[[BBC News]], January 25, 2007.</ref> He has also recorded and performed with [[Shane McGowan]], [[Robbie Williams]], [[Sinéad O'Connor]], [[Robert Wyatt]] and [[Paul McCartney]].<ref name=%2526quot%253BGMF-GA%2526quot%253B /><ref name=%2526quot%253BAtzmonhomepage%2526quot%253B /> He has recorded two albums with Robert Wyatt, who describes him as "one of the few musical geniuses I've ever met".<ref name=Lewis%252F%2526gt%253B

Atzmon has collaborated, recorded and performed with musicians from all around the world, including the Palestinian singer, [[Reem Kelani]], Tunisian singer and [[oud]] player [[Dhafer Youssef]], violinist [[Marcel Mamaliga]], accordion player [[Romano Viazzani]], bassist [[Yaron Stavi]], violinist and trumpet-violin player, [[Dumitru Ovidiu Fratila]], and [[Guillermo Rozenthuler]] on vocals.<ref name=%2526quot%253BRainLore bio" />

Atzmon founded the '''Orient House Ensemble''' band in London in the 1990s and is currently touring with them.<ref name=%2526quot%253BAtzmonhomepage%2526quot%253B /> The band includes Asaf Sirkis on drums, Yaron Stavi on bass and [[Frank Harrison]] on keyboard.<ref name=%2526quot%253BAtzmonhomepage%2526quot%253B /> It has produced five albums in eight years.<ref name=Shackleton%2526gt%253BKathryn Shackleton, [http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/5vp2/ Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble, Refuge], [[BBC]], October 1, 2007.</ref>

Atzmon is on the creative panel of the ''Global Music Foundation'',<ref name=%2526quot%253BGMF-GA%2526quot%253B /> a non-profit organization formed in December 2004 which runs residential educational and performance workshops and events in different countries around the world.<ref name=%2526quot%253BGMF%2526quot%253B%2526gt%253B%257B%257Bcite web
|url=http://www.globalmusicfoundation.org/about.html
|title=About GMF
|accessdate=2008-10-28
|publisher=Global Music Foundation
}}
</ref>, and also offers personal workshops to students.<ref name=%2526quot%253BAtzmon-Workshop%2526quot%253B%2526gt%253B%257B%257Bcite web
|url=http://www.gilad.co.uk/education.htm
|title=MUSIC EDUCATION 
|accessdate=2008-10-28
|last=Atzmon
|first=Gilad
|year=2007
|publisher=Gilad Atzmon
}}
</ref>

===Reviews===
Atzmon and his ensemble have received favorable reviews from ''Hi-Fi World, [[Financial Times]], [[The Scotsman]], [[The Guardian]], [[Birmingham Post]], [[The Sunday Times]]'' and ''[[The Independent]]''.<ref>[http://www.gilad.co.uk/ Gilad Atzmon web site].</ref> Reviews of his 2007 album ''Refuge'' included:
:''[[Manchester Evening News]]'': The individuality of the music is extraordinary. No one is more willing to serve his music with raw political passion, and that curious cantor-like tone on clarinet is immediately arresting, like Artie Shaw writhing in his death throes.<ref>Alan Brownlee, [http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/entertainment/music/world_music/s/1015/1015003_gilad_atzmon__the_orient_house_ensemble__refuge_enja.html Gilad Atzmon & The Orient House Ensemble - Refuge (Enja)], [[Manchester Evening News]], August 30, 2007.</ref>
:''EjazzNews'': "For sheer improvisational fireworks, quirky humour and genre-defying invention, one will be hard-pressed to find a bandleader as unique as Gilad Atzmon." ("EjazzNews," September 2008)<ref>John Stevenson, [http://www.ejazznews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News%2526amp%253Bfile%253Darticle%2526amp%253Bsid%253D9791%2526amp%253Bmode%253Dthread%2526amp%253Border%253D0%2526amp%253Bthold%253D0 Gilad Atzmon liberates the Americans: Orient House Ensemble, Ronnie Scott’s London, August 30th 2008], [http://ejazznews.com EJazzNews.com], September 01, 2008.</ref>
:[[BBC]]: "...the OHE is finding its voice in an increasingly subtle blend of East and West, that’s brutal and beautiful."<ref name=Shackleton%252F%2526gt%253B

In November 2008 Chris Searle launched his book ''Forward Groove: Jazz and the Real World from Louis Armstrong to Gilad Atzmon'' at the [[London Jazz Festival]]. It "chronicles the development of jazz and its great exponents" alongside social developments and political protest movements. The reviewer noted that "the torch continues to be carried by contemporary musicians such as Israeli-born alto saxman Gilad Atzmon who dreams of a free and united Palestine."<ref>Ian Soutar, [http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/arts/Former-head-chronicles-a-passion.4693307.jp Former head chronicles a passion for jazz and justice], [[Sheffield Telegraph]], November 14, 2008.</ref>

In February 2009 ''[[The Guardian]]'' music critic John Fordham reviewed Atzmon's newest album ''In loving memory of America'' which Atzmon describes as "a memory of America I had cherished in my mind for many years". It includes five standards and six originals "inspired by the sumptuous harmonies and impassioned sax-playing of [[Charlie Parker|(Charlie) Parker]]'s late-40s recordings with classical strings".<ref>John Fordham, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/feb/27/gilad-atzmon-loving-memory-america Gilad Atzmon: In Loving Memory of America], [[The Guardian]], February 27, 2009.</ref>

While John Lewis praises much of Atzmon's work, he notes that "trenchant politics often sit uneasily alongside music, particularly when that music is instrumental." Lewis criticized his 2006 comedy klezmer project, "Artie Fishel and the Promised Band," as "a clumsy satire on what he regards as the artificial nature of Jewish identity politics."<ref name=Lewis%252F%2526gt%253B

===Awards===
Atzmon was the recipient of the HMV Top Dog Award at the Birmingham International Jazz Festival in 1996–1998.<ref name=%2526quot%253BRainLore bio" /> Gilad Atzmon's ''Exile'' was [[BBC]] jazz album of the year in 2003.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/entertainment/3107607.stm Jazz winners span generations], [[BBC]], July 30, 2003.</ref>

==Novels==
Atzmon's novels have been published in 22 languages. His first novel ''[[A Guide to the Perplexed]]'', published in 2001, is set in a future where by 2052 Israel has been replaced by a Palestinian state for 40 years. It largely reviews memoirs of the alienated Israeli Gunther Wunker’s rise to fame as a "peepologist," or voyeur. The perplexed are defined as "the unthinking Chosen" who "cling to clods of earth that don't belong to them." The novel excoriates what it describes as the commercialization of the Holocaust and "argues that the Holocaust is invoked as a kind of reflexive propaganda designed to shield the Zionist state from responsibility for any transgression against Palestinians."<ref name=%2526quot%253BSt%252E Clair"/> [[The Independent]] reviewer wrote that "Those who still thrill to the pages of Sixties underground "comix" may find some of this amusing, however laboured. Yet even those semi-sympathetic to its politics will find it cheap and "provocative" in the worst possible sense." He also wrote that the book has "just enough connection with reality to give it a certain unsettling power."<ref>Matthew Reisz, [http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/a-guide-to-the-perplexed-by-gilad-atzmon-trans-philip-simpson-609999.html A crude - and rude - assault on Israel misfires], ''The Independent'', December 7, 2002.</ref> [[The Guardian]] review notes it is "odd to mix knob gags with highly serious assertions" but that it works because "Atzmon writes with so much style and his gags are so hilarious."<ref>Darren King, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/jan/25/featuresreviews.guardianreview16 Mr. Peepology], [[The Guardian]], January 25, 2003.</ref>

Atzmon's second novel, ''My One and Only Love'' was published in 2005, and features as a protagonist a trumpeter who chooses to play only one note (extremely well) as well as a spy who uncovers Nazi war criminals and locks them inside double bass cases which then tour permanently in the protagonist's orchestra's luggage.<ref>Sholto Byrnes,, ''The Independent'', 25 March 2005, [http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/talking-jazz-529796.html Talking Jazz]</ref> The book also is comedic take on "Zionist espionage and intrigue" which explores "the personal conflict between being true to one’s heart and being loyal to The Jews'.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/content/articles/2004/10/01/gilad_event_feature.shtml BBC book launch announcement], [[BBC]], Jun 3, 2005.</ref>

==Politics==
Atzmon describes himself as a political artist.<ref name=%2526quot%253BCryFreedom%2526quot%253B%252F%2526gt%253B He also has called himself "a Hebrew-speaking Palestinian" who plays music for the Palestinian cause.<ref name=%2526quot%253Bgilchrist222%2526quot%253B%252F%2526gt%253B After the prime minister of [[Turkey]], [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]] had cited Atzmon during a debate with Israeli president [[Shimon Peres]], music critic John Lewis wrote in ''[[The Guardian]]'': "It is Atzmon's blunt anti-Zionism rather than his music that has given him an international profile, particularly in the Arab world, where his essays are widely read."<ref name=Lewis%252F%2526gt%253B 

Atzmon is opposed to [[Zionism]] and critiques what he describes as the "supremacist nature inherent in an ideology like Zionism." He supports the [[Palestinian Right of Return]] as well as the establishment of a [[One state solution|single state in Israel/Palestine]].<ref name=%2526quot%253BRizzo%2526quot%253B%2526gt%253BMary Rizzo, [http://www.counterpunch.org/atzmon06172005.html The Gag Artists, Who's Afraid of Gilad Atzmon?], [[CounterPunch]], June 17, 2005</ref> 

Atzmon has disseminated his political views through his performances, speaking engagements and publications. He has been published in ''[[CounterPunch]]''<ref>Gilad Atzmon, [http://www.counterpunch.org/atzmon08282003.html Collective Self-Deception: The Most Common Mistakes of Israelis], [[Counterpunch]], August 28, 2003.</ref>, ''[[Al Jazeera]]''<ref>Gilad Atzmon, [http://aljazeera.com/news/articles/39/Caught_between_sobbing_and_war_chants.html Caught between sobbing and war chants], [[Al Jazeera]], July 30, 2008</ref>, ''Uruknet''<ref>Gilad Atzmon, [http://uruknet.info/?p=m31096&s1=h1 Purim Special, From Esther to AIPAC], Uruknet, March 3, 2007.</ref>, ''Middle East Online''<ref>Gilad Atzmon, [http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/culture/?id=34492 Vengeance, Barbarism and Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds], Middle East Online, September 22, 2009.</ref> and ''Dissident Voice.''<ref>[http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/10/who-is-a-jew/comment-page-1/ Who Is a Jew?], Dissident Voice, October 6, 2009.</ref> Many of his published papers are available on his personal website.<ref>[http://www.gilad.co.uk/politiks.htm Politiks] at Gilad Atzmon web site.</ref> He is a co-founder of and contributor to the web site [[Palestine Think Tank]].<ref name=PTTabout%2526gt%253B[http%253A%252F%252Fpalestinethinktank%252Ecom%252Fabout%252F About PalestineThinkTank.com page.</ref> 

Atzmon has engaged in "furious attacks on Israel."<ref name=Lewis%252F%2526gt%253B His military service led him to believe that Israel was a "racist, militarised state that was a danger to world peace" and that Israel’s actions "sow hatred throughout the world." He compares the Israeli actions to those of the [[Nazis]], and said that the [[Rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israel]] did not justify the Israeli military response in [[2008-2009 Israel-Gaza conflict]]. He described Israel’s attacks on Palestinians as increasingly brutal, its nuclear weapons as "idiotic" and a threat to the region.<ref name=%2526quot%253Bgibson%2526quot%253B%252F%2526gt%253B 

Along with his criticism of Israel, Atzmon's essays criticize Zionism and Judaism,<ref name=%2526quot%253Bgilchrist222%2526quot%253B%252F%2526gt%253B including philosophical texts on [[Jewish identity]].<ref name=Lewis%252F%2526gt%253B Atzmon says the military experience of "my people destroying other people left a big scar" and led to his condemnation of "Jewishness" as "very much a supremacist, racist tendency".<ref name=%2526quot%253Bgilchrist222%2526quot%253B%252F%2526gt%253B Atzmon has asked "How is it that people who have suffered so much and for so long can inflict so much pain on the other?" and questions ‘How can Zionists, who are motivated by a genuine desire to return, be so blind when it comes to the very similar Palestinian desire?"<ref name=%2526quot%253BCryFreedom%2526quot%253B%252F%2526gt%253B

Atzmon has stated in the past that he has effectively "renounced his Jewish identity," but explains his being sometimes "loud and rude" by saying "You can take the Jew out of Israel but you cannot take Israel out of the Jew." He states his writings and music are "self-reflective" and that "When I criticise the Jews, in many cases I'm criticising myself."<ref name=%2526quot%253Bgilchrist222%2526quot%253B%252F%2526gt%253B

Atzmon believes the financial meltdown "is all just part of the programme," including the [[Iraq war]], of "America acting as an Israeli mission for fighting the last pockets of resistance, led tactically by Neoconservatives and the Federal Reserve." He says there was not a [[credit crunch]] but a "Zionist punch" and that "Alan Greenspan's job was to create a financial boom so America's people were not concerned with the tactics used in the Middle East." He says non-Jews like former U.S. president [[George W. Bush]] also "behaved Jewishly": "Even in Christianity, this tendency to go Old Testament - into tribalism, into supremacy, into violence, into shock and awe . . . This is something we have to fight against."<ref name=%2526quot%253Bgibson%2526quot%253B%252F%2526gt%253B 

Atzmon's comments on Jews and Judaism have lead to him being accused of antisemitism by the [[Swedish Committee Against Anti-Semitism]],<ref>[http://www.thelocal.se/6777/20070323/ Social Democrats invited known anti-Semite to seminar], [http://www.thelocal.se/ The Local], March 23, 2007.</ref> [[Engage]] <ref> [http://www.engageonline.org.uk/blog/article.php?id=258 Antisemitic Saxophonist Gilad Atzmon Plays SOAS] </ref> [[Jews Against Zionism]]<ref name=Rizzo%252F%2526gt%253B and the [[Board of Deputies of British Jews]]. The latter criticized Atzmon for saying during a talk: "I'm not going to say whether it is right or not to burn down a synagogue, I can see that it is a rational act."<ref name=%2526quot%253Bges2004%2526quot%253B%2526gt%253BPolly Curtis, [http://education.guardian.co.uk/racism/story/0,,1481647,00.html Soas faces action over alleged anti-semitism], ''[[The Guardian]]'', May 12, 2004.</ref>  Atzmon responded in a letter to ''[[The Observer]]'' that he meant “since Israel presents itself as the 'state of the Jewish people’” that "any form of anti-Jewish activity may be seen as political retaliation" for Israel's actions.<ref>Gilad Atzmon, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2005/apr/24/letters.theobserver Letters to the Editor],[[The Observer]], April 4, 2005</ref> Commentator [[David Aaronovitch]] criticized Atzmon for writing “We must begin to take the accusation that the Jewish people are trying to control the world very seriously.”<ref>David Aaronvitch,  [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/david_aaronovitch/article538076.ece How did the far Left manage to slip into bed with the Jew-hating Right?] [[The Times]], June 28, 2005</ref> 

Atzmon labels the term "antisemitism" as an [[floating signifier|empty signifier]], holding that "criticism of Jewish nationalism, Jewish lobbying and Jewish power can only be realised as a legitimate critique of ideology and practice."<ref>Gilad Atzmon, [http://palestinethinktank.com/2008/09/02/gilad-atzmon-the-wandering-who The Wandering Who?], Palestine Think Tank, September 9, 2008.</ref> He states that "antisemitism is a spin, it is a myth...there is no such a thing as antisemitism." <ref>Gilad Atzmon, [http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/04/07/gilad-atzmon-aaronovitchs-tantrum-and-the-demolition-of-jewish-power/ Aaronvitch's Tantrum and the Demolition of Jewish Power], Palestine Think Tank, April 7, 2009.</ref>

Atzmon has had conflicts with some Jewish anti-Zionists who he says fail to listen to Palestinian activists but "prefer to act under your Jewish banner" and "run campaigns solely with your Jewish comrades."<ref name=%2526quot%253BRizzo%2526quot%253B%252F%2526gt%253B He asserts "The Palestinian cause doesn't belong to any one person. And I don't identify with any political party. That's the advantage the artist has over the politician."<ref name=Lewis%252F%2526gt%253B

==Discography==
*''"In loving memory of America"'' - Label: Enja - January 2009
*''Refuge'' - Label: Enja - October 2007
*''Artie Fishel and the Promised Band'' - Label: WMD - September 2006
*''MusiK'' - Label: Enja - October 2004
*''Exile'' - Label: Enja - March 2004
*''Nostalgico'' - Label: Enja - January 2001
*''Gilad Atzmon &The Orient House Ensemble'' - Label: Enja - 2000
*''Juizz Muzic''- Label: FruitBeard - 1999
*''Take it or Leave It'' - Label: Face Jazz - 1999
*''Spiel- Both Sides'' - Label: MCI - 1995
*''Spiel Acid Jazz Band''- Label: MCI - 1995
*''Spiel''- Label: In Acoustic&H.M. Acoustica - 1993

==Books==
*''[[A guide to the perplexed]]'', English translation by Philip Simpson. London : Serpent's Tail, 2002. ISBN 1852428260
*''My one and only love''. London : Saqi, 2005. ISBN 0863565077 (pbk.). ISBN 9780863565076 (pbk.)

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[http://www.gilad.co.uk/ Gilad Atzmon web site]
*Gilad Atzmon, [http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/03/30/gilad-atzmon-lexicon-of-resistance Lexicon of Resistance], a dictionary of his "charged terminology."
*[http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/opinion/?id=21321 Gilad Atzmon Interviewed by Mary Rizzo], July, 2007.

<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] -->
{{Persondata
|name=Atzmon%252C Gilad
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=Israeli musician and political activist
|DATE OF BIRTH=June 9, 1963
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Tel Aviv]], [[Israel]]
|DATE OF DEATH=
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atzmon, Gilad}}
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[[Category:Jazz saxophonists]]
[[Category:Bebop saxophonists]]
[[Category:Hard bop saxophonists]]
[[Category:Antisemitism]]
[[Category:Writers on Zionism]]
[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]

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[[fr:Gilad Atzmon]]
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