As Europe’s 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 censoring the Irish rap group Kneecap over their staunch pro-Palestinian stance – 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.
Among them was the British duo Bob Vylan, who led the crowd in chanting “Free, free Palestine” and “Death, death to the IDF,” denouncing war crimes committed by the Israeli army, including the starvation of children and the killing of civilians in humanitarian aid lines. The BBC has since announced it would edit their performance on streaming platforms, festival organizers distanced themselves from the chant, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer labeled it hate speech. But the reaction among festivalgoers and artists has been starkly different.
Governments refuse to admit status quo has changed
Many artists insisted that the real issue is not on-stage speech but European governments’ complicity in genocide, echoing reactions to earlier attacks on Kneecap, who faced cancellations following their Coachella performance and outspoken solidarity with Palestine.
Australian band Amyl and the Sniffers condemned the backlash against Bob Vylan and Kneecap, saying authorities are attempting to frame these as isolated cases – “a couple of ‘bad bands’” – rather than acknowledging the growing anti-genocide anger among the public. “Trying to make it look like Bob [Vylan] and Kneecap are one-offs, instead of admitting that the status quo has shifted majorly and people are desperate for our governments to listen,” the band posted on social media. Throughout the weekend, they pointed out, musicians raised their voices for Gaza, cheered on by audiences that waved Palestinian flags.
While Kneecap and Bob Vylan both face legal action over their expressions of solidarity, their determination to challenge the status quo is unshaken. Watching what the music industry tried to do to Kneecap after Coachella, DJ Toddla T added, “has been like watching a lightweight boxer against a heavyweight, but holding it. Exhausted, but refusing to fall.”
“Kneecap represents community, which is why they can’t be taken down despite many attempts,” he added.
Taking the stage at Glastonbury, Kneecap voiced support for Palestine Action, a direct action group currently under threat of being banned under the UK’s anti-terror legislation. “Palestine Action is not arming the genocide and Israel – that’s Keir Starmer and the British government, who should be proscribed,” the group said.
“Kneecap, along with many artists and celebrities and Parliamentarians of different stripes, have joined thousands of people across the country saying ‘We are all Palestine Action,’ showing how unworkable the government’s threat to ban Palestine Action is,” Palestine Action spokespeople added.
“We just want to stop people from being murdered,” Kneecap members told The Guardian before the festival. “There’s people starving to death, people being bombed every day. That’s the stuff we need to talk about, not fucking artists.”
Liberating Europe from imperialism is part of the struggle
The genocide in Gaza was also front and center at other European festivals. At Zagreb’s InMusic Festival, bands like Fontaines D.C. and Massive Attack displayed Palestinian flags and screened footage from Gaza – 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.
During his performance, Nigerian musician Seun Kuti offered guidance to Europe’s youth. “I know you want to free Palestine, free Congo, free Sudan, free Iran. It’s a new one every week,” he said. “Free Europe. Free Europe from right-wing extremism, from fascism, from racism. Free Europe from imperialism. When you do this job – as soon as you do this job – Gaza will be free. Congo will be free. Sudan will be free.”
