Rock legend Eric Clapton on Friday released a new song accompanied by a video featuring images of extensive destruction in the Gaza Strip and pro-Palestinian protests around the world amid the Israel-Hamas war.
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The video, captioned "Voice of a Child" and featuring Clapton's guitar playing in the background, overlooks the October 7 massacre committed by Hamas terrorists which sparked the war, its 1,400 victims or the 237 hostages held in Gaza.
Israeli musician Idan Raichel, along with numerous other users, expressed their disappointment in the comment sections of Clapton's social media accounts over the omission of the Israeli perspective.
“Hammas [sic] murdered hundreds of kids on October 7th. And kidnapped many more. And we haven’t heard a word from you. Shame on you,” the singer-songwriter commented under Clapton’s Instagram post.
"Where is the voice of Oct 7th? Can you play some nice chords for that too?" wrote another user.
Clapton, who has performed in Israel in the past, is no stranger to engaging with Israeli-related political issues. In March, he endorsed a petition denouncing the Frankfurt City Council's decision to cancel Roger Waters' concert, citing Waters' antisemitic and anti-Israel statements.
In an August interview with The Real Music Observer on YouTube, Clapton revealed he nearly retracted his support for Democratic presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr.
This came after Kennedy declared himself pro-Israel, retracting a previous post supporting Roger Waters during a controversy over Waters wearing a Nazi-like uniform in a performance, a post Kennedy later deleted.
“I found it difficult at one point when he retracted that tweet about Roger [Waters] because of Roger’s stance on the Middle East, on Israel-Palestine politics,” the Wonderful Tonight singer explained. “I was nearly going to pull out — I didn’t know if I really, honestly, support this when Robert said, ‘I’m pro-Israel and the family has always been pro-Israel.'”
First published: 14:50, 11.18.23