Introduction by GA: I believe that the following is a very interesting interview. Very intelligent questions. I touch upon multiculturalism, patriotism, nationalism,  Jewish Left and Progressive spin. I also refer to future Palestinian solidarity in the light of growing Liberal Zionist intervention. 

Gilad Atzmon on Egaliteet Reconciliation

E&R: Your last album, « Songs of the Metropolis, » seems to be a rejection of multiculturalism, yet you are often seen as a symbol of multiculturalism. Do you agree with the above and if so, how do you experience what could be seen by some as a contradiction?

GA: I totally agree. I am hailed as the victorious emblem of multiculturalism and yet, from my very early days as an artist I have been critical of multiculturalism, which I see as an attempt to flatten differences, creating a fictitious and phantasmic image of equality. I instead believe that differences must be celebrated. It is the variety, the inaccessibility and foreignness that make the human landscape into a cheerful event. Instead of us reacting to different forms of self-censorship á la political correctness, we better delve into the real meaning of being in the world, ethical thinking and true tolerance, while celebrating differences  

E&R: When you decided to leave Israel for good, as a jazz artist, I guess the first destinations of your choice were probably New York, London or maybe even Paris; what made you choose London over the others?

GA: At the time I decided actually  to take a break from music. I was determined to spend some quality time reading philosophy. I had to choose between Chicago, London and Berlin. Chicago was windy, Berlin was too exciting and London in the early 1990s looked like a decaying extended village. It was calm and friendly. It was a very smart choice to come over.  

E&R: How do you manage in your everyday life in London to be one of the most fervent opponent of Jewish power? Do you encounter a lot of troubles?

GA: For sure, I am harassed daily by tribal operators, mainly Jewish ‘anti’ Zionists, i.e., Anti-Zionist Zionists (AZZ). But I learned to love it: the fact that they chase me  24/7 only proves that I touched the raw nerve. In fact, I am probably the only person to touch Jewish identity politics in such a manner since Bernard Lazare. I understand their despair, I formed an anti-racist method to encounter Jewish secular supremacy and Jewish progressive racism in particular.

E&R: What can you tell us about the state of freedom of speech in Britain?

GA: I am pretty troubled by what I see. But rereading Orwell’s "1984" recently helped me to grasp that it is actually the so-called left that is, unfortunately, responsible for the vast deterioration of our most precious liberties. It can be easily explained – the progressive stance is, at large, a form of secular  chosenness; it is righteous, yet, it also entails that someone else must be ‘reactionary’. Progressiveness is basically a supremacist discourse, and supremacy is always intolerant.