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Gillham said he felt for his orchestra colleagues who had to “endure” the protests despite having played no part in his cancellation.
The MSO initially apologised for removing Gillham from their line-up at a planned show in August last year, then retracted the apology and said his actions were not about free speech and were instead “an intrusion of personal political views”.
The MSO later said it had made an error in cancelling Gillham’s shows.
The pianist has since reached an in-principle settlement with former MSO managing director Sophie Galaise, but is still suing the MSO. The trial begins on December 1.
On its website, Jewish Artists for Palestine said its members were angry that the MSO had accepted “principal funding from the Gandel Foundation”, which it described as “vocal supporters of the genocide in Gaza, and long-time associates of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu”.
There is no suggestion that the allegation is true, only that it has been made by the Jewish Artists for Palestine group.
The Gandel Foundation has also been in the sights of Melbourne’s pro-Palestine protesters, who rallied outside the National Gallery of Victoria in late July in protest against the gallery receiving the family’s financial backing.
On July 27, pro-Palestine protesters marched on the gallery, sending it into lockdown, writing on the gallery wall slogans such as “NGV funded by Zionists”, and holding banners which said, “NGV, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide”.
After the NGV protest, Premier Jacinta Allan labelled the actions extremist and antisemitic, saying the demonstrators were shameful and that she supported the Gandel family.
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