ELDER OF ZIYON
Art and Politics
by Michael Lumish
October 4, 2015

This is a photo of Steven Demetre Georgiou in 1972. Handsome devil, isn’t he? He is also known by his stage name “Cat Stevens” and is currently known under his Muslim adopted name of Yusuf Islam, but he will always be Cat Stevens to me. In fact, one of my favorite albums as a kid – we’re talking vinyl – was Tea for the Tillerman and particularly the tune Where Do the Children Play? The reason that I am putting this gentleman into your face – a face that is not very welcome within the Jewish community, or so I suspect – is because I think that he inadvertently raises a very interesting question. Can we appreciate an artist’s art in distinction from that artist’s politics? READ MORE