ARTS AND CULTURE

Craig Balsam, David Renzer, Steve Schnur

Music industry executives

Three of the record industry’s top executives, Craig Balsam, David Renzer, and Steve Schnur, have found themselves thrust to the forefront of the fight against BDS, and especially the movement’s unofficial public spokesman, former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters.

Renzer, chairman of Spirit Music Group, and Schnur, music president of Electronic Arts, are co-founders of Creative Community for Peace (CCFP), a group dedicated to fighting anti-Israel actions from within the music and entertainment industries.

“We decided there needed to be a response to the BDS movement, because very few music executives are advocating for Israel,” said Balsam, co-founder of Razor & Tie Entertainment and advisory board member of CCFP. To fight BDS, he continued, CCFP works to support artists being “barraged” by BDS’s often bullying tactics and helps connect them with Israeli artists.

CCFP, he added, also believes in using music to “build bridges,” for instance by supporting programs in Israel that bring Arab and Jewish musicians together. (Photo credit: Facebook.)