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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/06/30/artists-speak-up-against-genocide-in-gaza-at-europes-music-festivals/">peoplesdispatch.org</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Artists speak up against genocide in Gaza at Europe\u2019s music festivals</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Ana Vra\u010dar</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time">June 30, 2025</div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><img src="cid:ii_mcjs76ct0" alt="Glastonbury-Kneecap-Derry-IPSC-e1751287572536.jpg" width="467" height="263"><br><p><font size="1">Festival participants wave Palestinian flags, Glastonbury Festival 2025. Source: IPSC/X</font> </p><div>
<p>As Europe\u2019s summer music festival season rolls out, mainstream
media and governments are struggling to keep Palestine solidarity off
the stage. In its coverage of Glastonbury Festival, the BBC focused on <a href="https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/clear-example-political-censorship">censoring </a>the
Irish rap group Kneecap over their staunch pro-Palestinian stance \u2013
only to be met by a wave of artists who used their platform to call for a
free Palestine and to demand broadcasters share real news about the
Israeli genocide in Gaza.</p>
<p>Among them was the British duo Bob Vylan, who led the crowd in
chanting \u201cFree, free Palestine\u201d and \u201cDeath, death to the IDF,\u201d
denouncing war crimes committed by the Israeli army, including the <a href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/05/13/experts-say-gaza-needs-more-than-statements-to-survive-israels-brutal-blockade/">starvation of children</a> and the killing of civilians in <a href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/06/17/israel-continues-massacring-people-at-ghf-distribution-centers-in-gaza/">humanitarian aid lines</a>. The BBC has since announced it would edit their performance on streaming platforms, <a href="https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/bob-vylan-reacts-chant-controversy/">festival organizers</a> distanced themselves from the chant, and Prime Minister <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/starmer-bbc-glastonbury-bbc-idf-israel-b2779142.html">Keir Starmer</a> labeled it hate speech. But the reaction among festivalgoers and artists has been starkly different.</p>
<h3><b>Governments refuse to admit </b><b><i>status quo</i></b><b> has changed</b></h3>
<p>Many artists insisted that the real issue is not on-stage speech but
European governments\u2019 complicity in genocide, echoing reactions to
earlier attacks on Kneecap, who faced cancellations following their
Coachella performance and outspoken solidarity with Palestine.</p>
<p>Australian band Amyl and the Sniffers condemned the backlash against
Bob Vylan and Kneecap, saying authorities are attempting to frame these
as isolated cases \u2013 \u201ca couple of \u2018bad bands\u2019\u201d \u2013 rather than
acknowledging the growing anti-genocide anger among the public. \u201cTrying
to make it look like Bob [Vylan] and Kneecap are one-offs, instead of
admitting that the <i>status quo</i> has shifted majorly and people are desperate for our governments to listen,\u201d the band posted on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/amylandthesniffers/">social media</a>.
Throughout the weekend, they pointed out, musicians raised their voices
for Gaza, cheered on by audiences that waved Palestinian flags.</p>
<img src="https://peoplesdispatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Ciaran-Tierney-Bob-Vylan-Glasto.jpg" alt="" width="467" height="467" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">Bob Vylan performance at Glastonbury 2025. Source: Ciaran Tierney/X
<p>While <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4k4xnlj8qo">Kneecap </a>and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/glastonbury-bob-vylan-israel-police-d7faf32c07b2ccadf25b29d57a530486">Bob Vylan</a> both face legal action over their expressions of solidarity, their determination to challenge the <em>status quo</em> is unshaken. Watching what the music industry tried to do to Kneecap after Coachella, <a href="http://wrote/">DJ Toddla T</a> added, \u201chas been like watching a lightweight boxer against a heavyweight, but holding it. Exhausted, but refusing to fall.\u201d</p>
<p>\u201cKneecap represents community, which is why they can\u2019t be taken down despite many attempts,\u201d he added.</p>
<p>Taking the stage at Glastonbury, Kneecap voiced <a href="https://x.com/IrishUnity/status/1939067183105220781">support </a>for
Palestine Action, a direct action group currently under threat of being
banned under the UK\u2019s anti-terror legislation. \u201cPalestine Action is not
arming the genocide and Israel \u2013 that\u2019s Keir Starmer and the British
government, who should be proscribed,\u201d the group <a href="https://x.com/Pal_action/status/1939001063102665182">said</a>.</p>
<p>\u201cKneecap, along with many artists and celebrities and
Parliamentarians of different stripes, have joined thousands of people
across the country saying \u2018We are all Palestine Action,\u2019 showing how
unworkable the government\u2019s threat to ban Palestine Action is,\u201d
Palestine Action spokespeople <a href="https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/clear-example-political-censorship">added</a>.</p>
<p>\u201cWe just want to stop people from being murdered,\u201d Kneecap members told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jun/27/kneecap-on-palestine-protest-and-their-satirical-intent"><i>The Guardian</i></a>
before the festival. \u201cThere\u2019s people starving to death, people being
bombed every day. That\u2019s the stuff we need to talk about, not fucking
artists.\u201d</p>
<h3><b>Liberating Europe from imperialism is part of the struggle</b></h3>
<p>The genocide in Gaza was also front and center at other European
festivals. At Zagreb\u2019s InMusic Festival, bands like Fontaines D.C. and
Massive Attack displayed Palestinian flags and screened footage from
Gaza \u2013 images that were omitted from mainstream media coverage of the
event. Other artists also emphasized the importance of linking global
and local struggles in confronting Western imperialism.</p>
<p>During his performance, Nigerian musician <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DLUba8WtpMK/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_video_watch_again">Seun Kuti</a>
offered guidance to Europe\u2019s youth. \u201cI know you want to free Palestine,
free Congo, free Sudan, free Iran. It\u2019s a new one every week,\u201d he said.
\u201cFree Europe. Free Europe from right-wing extremism, from fascism, from
racism. Free Europe from imperialism. When you do this job \u2013 as soon as
you do this job \u2013 Gaza will be free. Congo will be free. Sudan will be
free.\u201d</p>
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