Channels, Soccer Team, Bells≥
Friday, May 30 at Rock & Roll Hotel, $12

Baltimore rock band Channels features J. Robbins (from Jawbox and Burning Airlines) alongside bassist Janet Morgan and drummer Darren Zentek of Kerosene 454. Their recorded output in their 10-year career has been relatively minimal (one album and one EP), and their live shows seem even more rare, so this is an excellent chance to check out these almost-locals. They’ll be joined by D.C. rockers Soccer Team and Brooklyn instrumental band Bells≥. (Catherine P. Lewis)

Foul Swoops, Nic Fits, Anchor 3, and Luke Reddick
Friday, May 30 at St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church, $5 to $10

St. Stephen’s doesn’t host benefit shows as often as it used to, but it’s back at it this weekend with an all-local lineup that will benefit UNICEF’s work to help Syrian children. The show features Arlington rockers Foul Swoops, D.C. punkers Nic Fits, D.C. indie-pop band Anchor 3, and Alexandria’s Luke Reddick (of Dudes). (CPL)

Eels and Chelsea Wolfe
Saturday, May 31 at Lincoln Theatre, $35

This is Chelsea Wolfe’s “acoustic with strings” tour leg, which I hope means the gothic-folk/rock artist plans to perform a whole set of gorgeous tunes like this special version of one of her best songs to date, “Flatlands.” Wolfe’s last album, the synth-infused Pain Is Beauty, had plenty of memorable moments (especially the thunderous “We Hit A Wall“), but I always return to the seething, lower-key Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs. Here’s hoping Saturday’s show (with headliner Eels) coaxes out more of that understated beauty. (Ally Schweitzer)

Outputmessage, Paperhaus, and The Effects
Saturday, May 31 at 945 Florida Ave. NW, free

A solid lineup of local performers, free admission, and dogs? I can’t think of many reasons to miss this show, co-presented by DCist.com, which takes place Saturday in the parking lot that formally hosted District Flea. Electronic wizard Outputmessage and indie-rock mainstays Paperhaus top the bill, but new band The Effects is worth an ear, too, featuring members of Medications, Buildings, and Deleted Scenes. The dogs come courtesy of Metro Mutts, which hosts a “Canines and Cocktails” happy hour before the show. (AS)

Priests, The Shondes, and Pinkwash
Monday, June 2 at Black Cat Backstage, $10

Local punk band Priests isn’t one for social media, but it’s all over the press, both locally (on Bandwidth and in the pages of Washington City Paper and the Washington Post) and nationally. The group finally drops its debut EP Tuesday—a step up from its previous cassette releases—but its DIY ethos still rages on. Opening group The Shondes joined this lineup after being booted from the Washington Jewish Music Festival because of their support of Palestine. (CPL)

Also recommended this week:
Internationally Known Global Hip-Hop Showcase at Tropicalia (Friday); Drop Electric, The Walking Sticks, and The Raised By Wolves at the Howard Theatre (Friday); Janel Leppin’s Volcanic Ash at Twins Jazz (Friday and Saturday); Queering Sound at Pyramid Atlantic (Saturday); The Menzingers, Lemuria, Pup, and Cayetana at Rock & Roll Hotel (Sunday); Br’er, Wei Zhongle, Three Brained Robot at the Paperhaus (Monday); Louis Weeks at Anacostia Arts Center (Wednesday).

These and other show listings can be found on ShowListDC.

Accordingly, Brooklyn rock band The Shondes has been abruptly yanked off the center’s annual Washington Jewish Music Festival because of the band’s stance against Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.

The Shondes’ singer and bassist, Louisa Solomon, says D.C. JCC CEO Carole Zawatsky called her last week and informed her that her band was no longer welcome on the festival, which takes place in June. “Carole informed me, repeatedly, that the JCC had to ‘disassociate from The Shondes’ because of their line on Israel,” Solomon writes in an email. “I asked her to elaborate on that line, and she said that they cannot allow people who support the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement to use an event of theirs as a ‘platform.'”

In fact, the D.C. Jewish Community Center does have a policy against the BDS movement, an international campaign whose mission is to pressure Israel into restoring Palestinian rights and ceasing its occupation of Arab lands. That policy is no secret. It’s clearly posted on the center’s website:

The Washington DCJCC stands firmly in support of Israel as an independent Jewish state. We support open, balanced and respectful dialogue that engages a broad community in meaningful conversation. We choose our partners and affiliations to ensure that all programming supports the DCJCC’s mission to preserve and strengthen Jewish identity, heritage, tradition and values. We oppose “Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions” of Israel (BDS) and all efforts to delegitimize the right of the State of Israel to exist.

“I asked whether a signed agreement stating that we would not use their event as a ‘platform’ for discussing BDS would suffice—I really wanted to understand their position,” Solomon writes. “[Zawatsky] said that it would not suffice, which made it clear to me that the issue isn’t limited to controlling open discussion of Israel at JCC events, it’s actually about blacklisting those of us who don’t share their views.” Solomon says that she tried to discuss the issue further, but Zawatsky “shut the conversation down at that point, restating their need to ‘disassociate’ from us.”

This isn’t a new thing for the D.C. JCC. A similar scenario played out earlier this year involving author David Harris-Gershon, whose appearance the JCC canceled for the same reason. But the center has also come under fire from the other side, most recently for planning to present a play, “The Admission,” that one local group considered grossly anti-Israel. (The center went on to stage the play in a scaled-back form; it’s playing now at Theater J to largely positive reviews.)

Asked to comment on the cancelation, Zawatsky writes in an email, “This band, which embraces boycotting Israel, exceeds the redline limits of the DCJCC’s open policy.” 

Solomon, meanwhile, doesn’t consider her views at all extreme. “Boycott is an historic and constitutionally protected tactic,” she writes. “I support the BDS movement because we desperately need to exert pressure on Israel and draw attention to their mistreatment of Palestinians. The occupation is illegal, brutal, and unjust, and it is hard to imagine anyone with both a heart and a mind concluding anything else.”

The Shondes’ show was originally booked at Black Cat June 2 in cooperation with the Jewish Music Festival. Now it will take place as scheduled with a different supporter: the organization Jewish Voice for Peace. Fans won’t be disappointed. But Solomon still has strong words for the cultural center that canceled her band’s show.

“If an institution claiming to serve ‘the Jewish community’ casts me out for taking an ethical stance against injustice, they should consider what kind of Judaism they represent.”