Because nothing quite says freedom of speech like stifling opposing viewpoints.

A Jewish American rapper has been kicked off the program of a music fest in Spain because he refused to make a statement in support of Palestinian statehood.

Rapper Matisyahu was accused of being a "lover of Israel" and unceremoniously cancelled by event organizers.

Daily Beast:

Rototom turned on Matisyahu after facing pressure from the Valencia section of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanction (BDS) movement, which, according to itswebsite, is devoted to promoting a “culture of boycott as a central form of civil resistance to Israeli occupation, colonialism and apartheid.”

According to Reuters, these local pro-Palestinian activist rebuked the rapper—real name Matthew Miller—as a “lover of Israel.”

In their eyes, being a “lover of Israel” would make Matisyahu discordant with Rototom’s larger goals of addressing the “existence or not of clandestine geo-engineering to promote climate change (chemtrails)” and “the role of the pharmaceutical industry in hindering the legalization of cannabis.”

Rototom also stated on its website a commitment to examining the “daily rise in Islamophobia in Western countries, as well as the situation of the prisoners in Guantanamo.”

Yet, plenty of performers from Western European countries where Islamophobia has reportedly increased, like France and the UK, are performing.

But Matisyahu, the rapper who came into fame as an Orthodox aberration to the hip-hop world (he no longer practices Orthodox Judaism and has shorn his beard for a more secular appearance), is being scrutinized on his Middle Eastern loyalties in order to perform at Rototom.

The BDS critics of Matisyahu claim that because he has professed public support for Israel, his feet should be held to the fire in order to perform at Rototom.

Matisyahu has yet to publicly comment on the cancellation. His manager David Serber told Newsweek in an email that “We are still dealing with the festival on this matter, but we plan on making a statement in the coming days.”

Did you get that? Jews are being blamed for climate change as well as the failure to make marijuana legal. This is extremely inventive anti-Semitism, besting even the Nazis in Jew-hate.

The fact that the young man is going to make a statement in the next few days does not bode well. It's easy to cave in to pressure like this, especially since Matisyahu is a marginal performer. But the act of forcing him to declare his allegiance to their anti-Semitic agenda is proof enough of the evil nature of the BDS movement and why it's so hard to stand up to the hate.