Radiohead frontman gets into fight with pro-Palestinian heckler in Australia

SYDNEY – Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke briefly walked off stage during an Australian concert after a verbal altercation with a pro-Palestinian critic.

On October 30, he was performing a solo concert in Melbourne when a concertgoer confronted him about the rising death toll in the Gaza Strip.

“How many dead children do you need to condemn genocide in the Gaza Strip,” Heckler said.

In a cold response, Yorke accused the man of ruining the concert for other fans and invited him to “jump” on stage.

“Don’t stand there like a coward, come here and say it. You want to screw everyone,” York said.

Yorke briefly left the stage as the crowd booed the heckler, but returned minutes later to play his final song, Radiohead’s 1997 hit Karma Police.

In 2017, the English rock band Radiohead challenged pro-Palestinian activists and played a concert in Tel Aviv.

“Playing for a country is not the same as supporting its government,” Yorke tweeted at the time. “We played in Israel for over 20 years through successive governments, some more liberal than others. Just like we do in America.

“We don’t support Netanyahu any more than we support Trump, but we still play in America.”

The Melbourne stop is part of Yorke’s October and November solo tour of New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and Japan. He will perform a sold-out show in Singapore at The Star Theater on November 5. AFP