FEATURE:
Together for Palestine
Why a Benefit Concert for a Besieged People Needs to Motivate Prolonged Commitment from the Music Community
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LIKE it or not…
PHOTO CREDIT: TIMO/Pexels
but we live in a fascist country. The U.K. has become almost a dictatorship where free speech is banned. If you protest against a genocidal nation (Israel) then you are see as inciting violence and hatred. Anyone who shows support towards Palestine Action – essentially people against genocide and showing their disgust through peaceful measures – and being arrested and can spend time in prison. In fact, the maximum sentence you could face is fourteen year. Support for that group is seen as an act of terrorism. Think about all the actual crimes where you could get a more lenient sentence. We have come to a point where our own government is not only ignoring genocide but funding it! They have a political agenda that is to squash and imprison anyone who speaks out against a heinous and barbaric action. Yesterday (9th August) saw hundreds arrested in London after showing support for Palestine Action:
“Police have arrested 474 people at a demonstration in London in support of banned group Palestine Action.
The Metropolitan Police said 466 protesters were arrested for supporting the group, five for assaults on police officers, two for public order offences, and one for a racially aggravated offence.
Scores of people simultaneously unveiled handwritten signs with the message "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action" at the protest, organised by Defend Our Juries at Westminster's Parliament Square.
The government proscribed the group in July under the Terrorism Act of 2000, making membership of or support for it a criminal offence, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
No officers were seriously injured, and the Met Police said the number of arrests was the largest made by the force on a single day in the last 10 years.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper thanked police for their response, while charity Amnesty International described the mass arrests as "deeply concerning".
Footage from the square showed officers moving among the protesters, who were mainly seated on the ground, and speaking to them before leading them away.
Protesters whose details could be confirmed during processing were bailed with conditions not to attend any further protest in support of Palestine Action.
People who refused to give their details or whose identities could not be verified were taken into custody.
Many of the protesters didn't want to speak to media who came to cover the protest, but one - who didn't give her name - told the BBC: "If they ban Palestine Action, what other group is next? Until we're just no longer allowed to protest anything. That's the opposite of democracy."
Another, Claudia Penna-Rojas, 27, said: "I don't think anyone wants to get arrested, but I'm more concerned with what is happening to people in Palestine right now, and I refuse to be a bystander”.
I do think that it is appalling that we have a Prime Minister (Keir Starmer) who wants to remain silent and do nothing. Someone who is very much supporting Israel and does not care about those in Palestine who are being slaughtered. As our government does not care, who else in this country is going to show anger at what is happening?! Recently, Bob Vylan took to the Glastonbury stage to call out the IDF (Israel Defence Forces). Glastonbury could have pulled power to the set, but they did not. The BBC condemned them. In fact, Glastonbury’s organisers, who you would think would support free speech - and said that this is something they do back – rowed back and said that they condemned Bob Vylan. It was a cowardly and pathetic show from an organiser and festival who want to supress free speech and anyone who stands against evil. Some artists have spoken our against Israel and there have been other acts who have taken to the stage to call out their genocide. Showing humanity for Palestine. That is what it is about. It is not about anyone inciting murder or calling for insurrection. Instead, it is rightly anger and disgust at what is happening. A genocide that is being shown on the news but governments are doing nothing. You get the feeling artists would like to put this into their music. To call out this barbarism. However, as people can spend years in prison for showing any form of support for Palestine Action – which, again, they are doing peacefully! -, then they have more than their careers on the line. It is a horrible time when the U.K. is being run as a fascist state. Perhaps nothing new, the evil of our current government is glaring!
It is not the case that the music industry is also doing nothing. In fact, a benefit concert is being organised and overseen by Brian Eno. The wonderful and much needed Together for Palestine. No doubt it will not be televised and there will be this media silence. Also, I guess artists are being warned not to follow Bob Dylan and Kneecap in voicing their anger at the IDF and outrage at what is happening. One feels it might be a slightly muted affair in that regard. However, it is a necessary show of solidarity from the music industry:
“The lineup has been announced for one of the largest-scale benefit concerts for Palestine since the intensification of conflict after 7 October 2023. It takes place at Wembley Arena in London on 17 September.
Brian Eno is overseeing Together for Palestine, which brings together British and Palestinian artists at the 12,500-capacity venue to raise funds for Choose Love, a British charity working with 23 partner organisations in Gaza to deliver food, medical supplies and other support.
The Palestinian musicians Adnan Joubran, Faraj Suleiman and Nai Barghouti are scheduled to perform alongside Eno and a host of top UK artists: Bastille, Cat Burns, Damon Albarn, Greentea Peng, Hot Chip, James Blake, Jamie xx, King Krule, Mabel, Obongjayar, Paloma Faith, Rachel Chinouriri and Sampha, with “one-off contributions” from Rina Sawayama, PinkPantheress and Riz Ahmed.
Eno said: “In the face of the horrors of Gaza, silence becomes complicity. Artists have always helped societies to point out injustice and imagine better futures. That’s why this concert matters. It’s time for us to come together – not just to raise our voices, but to reaffirm our shared humanity.”
Khaled Ziada, founder and director of the London Palestine film festival, is producing the event alongside Eno and Tracey Seaward, the film producer who also produced the 2012 London Olympic opening ceremony.
Ziada said: “In a world where governments and mainstream media have fallen silent in the face of genocide, this gathering becomes a chorus of resistance – where artists and communities come together to grieve, to rage and to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Palestinian people.”
Singer-songwriter Chinouriri, who supported Sabrina Carpenter on a recent tour, called on other musicians to “join me in building a bridge to victims in Gaza and beyond, we must break through the privilege of our bubble and speak with truth and justice”. Albarn said: “Pacifism is an action. Peace is an action. To live peacefully requires vision and commitment … I am grateful for this opportunity to act in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
The production design of the event is being handled by Es Devlin, the Olivier and Tony award-winning stage designer who, as well as working in theatre, has designed huge pop shows for the likes of Beyoncé, the Weeknd, U2 and Lady Gaga.
Devlin is collaborating with Palestinian artist Malak Mattar on Together for Palestine, and said the Wembley Arena stage “will express the rich beauty of Palestinian culture”.
Eno has been a longstanding supporter of Palestine and the cultural boycott of Israel.
In 2017 he had a dispute with Nick Cave over the cultural boycott, with Cave characterising the boycott movement as “people that are trying to shut down musicians, to bully musicians, to censor musicians, and to silence musicians”. Eno replied: “This has nothing to do with ‘silencing’ artists – a charge I find rather grating when used in a context where a few million people are permanently and grotesquely silenced”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Nadine Shah played the Other Stage at Glastonbury 2025/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images
I do hope that this concert makes a difference and it raises a lot of money! That aid can be flown to Gaza and it means that starved and afflicted Palestinians can get the support they need. As our government seems hell bent on letting it happen and do not have any humanity, it is good that the music industry is doing something. Even Hollywood has been pretty inactive when it comes to any sort of similar fundraiser. After the dust has settled on the concert, what comes next? Obviously, the genocide will continue and there will be this pacifism from governments the world over. Although music alone cannot change the situation, it is incumbent on artists and those in the industry to keep speaking out. Obviously, there is that risk of censorship. Venues refusing to book artists and radio stations not playing their music. Even the possibility of artists facing criminal action. However, as we are in a fascist state and any form of protest against genocide is seen as criminal, then we need to do something. The question is, what? Songs do need to address Israeli genocide. I have not heard many examples of artists using their platform to speak out against it. Artists need to be more vocal in the media. Nadine Shah played Glastonbury in June, and she used her set as an opportunity show support for Palestine:
“The singer has been a vocal supporter of Kneecap throughout the recent Terrorism charges brought against their singer Mo Chara for allegedly voicing support for Hamas and Hezbollah during a gig last year. She also recently posted ‘Fuck the BBC’ on her Instagram page, and explaining it was because they had pulled the broadcast of a documentary called Gaza: Medics Under Fire.
While for the most part during her set of intense pop, she let the moving backdrop behind her do the talking for her - it was designed by digital artist Cold War Steve and ended on an image of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu sat on sunchairs in a bombed-out Gaza, with Keir Starmer serving them cocktails - at the end of the show she read out an open letter by Artists for Palestine UK in support of Palestine Action, the direct action organisation who the government are proposing to ban under anti-terrorism laws.
She read that Palestine Action was intervening in a genocide and that, “We deplore the government's decision to proscribe it. Labeling nonviolent direct action as terrorism is an abuse of language and an attack on democracy”.
In terms of massive artists in the mainstream speaking out, there has been this silence. What about the biggest Pop artists of today? Where are they in this?! It does seem like they are either fearful of huge career repercussions or they do not feel it is appropriate to use their voice to speak out against genocide. Music has always been about protest. Even before Bob Dylan was writing protest songs in the early-1960s, there has been this platform where artists could speak out. Even during the time of Civil Rights clashes, the repercussions for protesting were not as severe as they are today. It is very positive that Together for Palestine is happening and thousands will turn out. I hope that it raises millions. Also, as much as anything, I hope that is spurs more artists into action. That it also shames our government and shows that the music industry has more comparison and humanity than they do! That they also seemingly reflect a growing anger and disgust in this country. People risking jail to call out genocide. It is an appalling world we live in. It is hard to tell how long this will go on. Will it be the case that Gaza is completely wiped out and every single citizen is killed or left to starve?! After that, do we just stand still and remain silent?! Israel is committing war crimes and they are being funded by governments around the world. It is horrifying that we are in a situation where it is down to the music industry and other sectors away from government to do the right thing. To take some form of action. From Bob Vylan to Kneecap to Nadine Shah to CMAT, there are those that want to speak out and see Palestine free. However, governments are prepared to arrest and imprison people. Censor anyone who speaks up. What an appalling situation to see this happen…
IN the modern age.