By: Anurag Baruah
December 14 2023
Mick Jagger's quote about performing in Israel is from a 2013 spoof article
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Screenshot of Mick Jagger's ‘fake quote’ about performing at a concert in Israel. (Source: Screenshot/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)
Fact-Check
The Verdict Fake
The fake quote had gone viral in 2014 as well. It is being used to falsely claim that Jagger supports Israel amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas.
Claim ID cef8b4db
As the Israel-Hamas conflict continues, amid escalating international calls for a ceasefire, social media has become a battleground for various claims and counterclaims linking celebrities to the ongoing conflict. Logically Facts has recently debunked multiple such misleading and false posts.
What’s the claim?
A statement allegedly made by Mick Jagger, the lead vocalist and a founding member of the Rolling Stones, is circulating on social media. These posts claim that the band plans to perform in Israel during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Accompanied by a graphic of Jagger, the text reads: “We've been slammed and smacked and twittered a lot by the anti-Israel side; all I can say is: anything worth doing is worth overdoing. so we decided to add a concert in Israel.” An archived version of such a post can be accessed here.
Some posts go on to unsubstantially claim that Jagger and Rolling Stones support Israel in the ongoing conflict. An archived version of such a post can be seen here.
However, the quote is fake, and neither Jagger nor the Rolling Stones are scheduled to perform in Israel.
What did we find?
A Google search took us to a 2013 spoof article published on JewishPress.com, the digital version of Jewish Press, the largest independent weekly Jewish newspaper in the United States. The article titled “Defying Boycotts, Jagger, Stones, to Honor Israel’s 65th Birthday,” published on February 24, 2013, describes it as a “Purim prank” at the very end. Purim is a joyous Jewish holiday and commemorates the saving of Jewish people living in Persia from extermination.
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Screenshot of the JewishPress.com article. (Source: Screenshot/The Jewish Press/Modified by Logically Facts)
The spoof article also claimed that the Rolling Stones would perform in Jerusalem on Israel’s Independence Day, April 15, 2013. The Rolling Stones, however, performed in Tel Aviv, Israel, for the first time on June 4, 2014.
Further research led us to reports from 2014, ahead of the band's Tel Aviv concert, which also addressed the circulation of the fake quote. HonestReporting.com, a pro-Israel media watchdog, identified the Jewish Press article as the source of the fake quote.
Moreover, the official Rolling Stones website only lists tour dates in the U.S. and Canada, with no mention of Israel in their upcoming concerts section.
Screenshot of the Rolling Stones official website showing the upcoming concerts. (Source: Screenshot/The Rolling Stones)
A representative of the band also confirmed to Reuters that there are no plans for a performance in Israel.
To date, we have found no credible reports indicating Jagger or the Rolling Stones have taken a public stance on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
The verdict
The purported quote by Mick Jagger about performing in Israel is a fabrication, originating from a 2013 spoof article. This misquote had previously gone viral in 2014 and has resurfaced amid the current Israel-Hamas conflict.