ADL File Photo: ADL honored Jewish American reggae artist Matisyahu on Oct. 16, 2015, for his courageous stand in the face of an attempt to cancel his appearance at a music festival in Spain because of his religion and support for Israel. Pictured left to right: Former ADL National Chair Marvin Nathan, Matisyahu, CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, and Former National Chair and National Board Member Barry Curtiss-Lusher.
ADL was deeply concerned about the abrupt cancellation of a sold-out concert with Jewish American singer Matisyahu on Feb. 14 at Meow Wolf in Santa Fe. ADL’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL National, and the ADL Mountain States Region all issued statements.
“The cancellation of Matisyahu’s Santa Fe show is deeply troubling. Attempts to silence Jewish voices and Jewish artists do nothing to promote peace or foster the robust civil discourse we need at this very difficult time,” said ADL Mountain States Regional Director Scott Levin.
The Jewish Community Relations Coalition of New Mexico sent two letters on behalf of its community partners to Meow Wolf’s senior leadership. ADL joined a meeting with several New Mexico Jewish community leaders and members of Meow Wolf’s senior leadership on March 6 to discuss the cancellation and the impact it had on the Jewish community. ADL shared resources on addressing workplace antisemitism and encouraged Meow Wolf to sign ADL’s Workplace Pledge to Fight Antisemitism. Both sides agreed to keep the door open for further conversations.