Rage Against the Machine, GY!BE, Roger Waters Sign Open Letter in Support of Palestine

The Musicians for Palestine campaign is urging artists to boycott performing in Israel

BY Josiah HughesPublished May 27, 2021

More than 600 musicians have signed an open letter expressing their support for Palestine and urging their fellow performers to boycott shows in Israel. The open letter — which has been shared under the banner Musicians for Palestine — includes signatures from Rage Against the Machine, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Julian Casablancas of the Strokes, Pink Floyd's Roger Waters and others.

The letter reads as follows:

In Solidarity and Empathy,

As musicians, we cannot be silent. Today it is essential that we stand with Palestine.

We are calling on our peers to publicly assert their solidarity with the Palestinian people. Complicity with Israeli war crimes is found in silence, and today silence is not an option.

Silence is not an option as the brutal Israeli bombardment of besieged Gaza claimed more than 245 lives in the last weeks.

Silence is not an option as residents of Sheikh Jarrah in occupied Jerusalem are continuously forced out of their homes.

Silence is not an option as millions of Palestinian refugees are denied their collective right of return.

The Israeli government operates a settler-colonial project committed to the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population. The legacies of systemic violence, racism and dispossession shaped by colonialism must stop. We call on all governments to stop funding all resources and technologies that back the Israeli state and their war crimes.

Today, we speak together and demand justice, dignity and the right to selfdetermination for the Palestinian people and all who are fighting colonial dispossession and violence across the planet.

We call for you to join us with your name in refusing to perform at Israel's complicit cultural institutions, and by standing firm in your support of the Palestinian people and their human right to sovereignty and freedom. We believe this is crucial to one day live in a world without segregation and apartheid.

FREE PALESTINE


Other signees include Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Black Thought and Questlove of the Roots, Serj Tankian of System of a Down, Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene, Bun B, Charly Bliss, Land of Talk, Propagandhi, Run the Jewels, Sarah Davachi, and Tim Hecker.

Find the full list of artists below.
 
 

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