Massive Attack have been among the artists who have stood firmly in support of Palestine. The trip-hop collective recently signed an open letter backing Kneecap amid the rap trio's investigation by the UK's Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit, after teaming up with Fontaines D.C. and Young Fathers last year for a benefit EP entitled Ceasefire.
Now, Massive Attack have now threatened legal action over a tweet from Israeli influencer and writer Hen Mazzig, which accused the band of "incitement."
"Why is the self proclaimed 'pro peace' band @MassiveAttackUK screening footage of Yayha Sinwar during their concert?" Mazzig wrote on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter yesterday (June 8), referring to the late Hamas Political Bureau chairman who was killed last year. Footage of Sinwar appears on the screen behind the band in an attached 11-second video clip from a Massive Attack concert.
Mazzig's tweet continued, "Sinwar masterminded the slaughter of innocents at a music festival, yet they're celebrating him at a similar event. If you're booking the UK's latest arena, you should care a lot more about the message you're spreading. Encouraging 23,000+ people to sympathize with Hamas is more than irresponsible — it's incitement."
In response, the band re-posted the tweet, writing, "For obvious, ethical reasons relating to its owner[,] Massive Attack do not use 'X.' However, no email contact is presented for the author of this post[,] which we view as defamatory, & has been passed to the band's lawyers. @HenMazzig must delete this post & issue an apology, or further legal action will follow."
Shared widely across their social channels, Massive Attack issued a statement saying that they "categorically reject" any suggestion that footage used in their live show "seeks to glorify or celebrate any featured subject." Specifically contextualizing the footage of Sinwar, they explained that it's interspersed with scenes from the Jean Cocteau film Orpheus, "creating both a placement and implicit tone of horrified lament; that an individual of power can take people down into hell."
"In a highly charged atmosphere, public figures including artists who consistently speak out against Israeli war crimes, apartheid and human rights abuses, and in defence of the Palestinian people[,] are subjected to determined and spurious attempts to discredit us, as a deterrent to us from speaking out," the band concluded, adding, "These spurious attempts will always fail."
Read the full statement below.