Numerous music collectives pledge support to cultural boycott of Israel

A number of music collectives, labels and promoters have pledged their support to the cultural boycott of Israel.

Dark Entries, Techno Queers, Dweller, Noise Not Music, Night Slugs, 8-ball community, and FIST are among those from the music and nightlife communitiy endorsing The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) call for boycott.

Spaces such as the Lab in San Francisco, New York’s Pageant, and The Novo in Los Angeles are also among the signatories.

A sub-division of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), PACBI was launched in 2004, with the aim of drawing a line “between culture workers and the actions of governments funding and endorsing the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by Israel”.

“PACBI, or The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, advocates for a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions for their deep and persistent complicity in Israel’s denial of Palestinian rights as stipulated by international law,” said a statement on the Writers Against the War on Gaza website.

“Cultural institutions and their communities are part and parcel of the ideological and institutional scaffolding of Israel’s regime of occupation, settler-colonialism, and apartheid against the Palestinian people. Israeli cultural institutions (including performing art companies, music groups, film organisations, writers’ unions and festivals) have cast their lot with the hegemonic Zionist establishment in Israel.”

You can read the full statement here.

At least 36,731 people have been killed and 83,530 wounded since the Israeli Government and its army launched a full-scale attack on Gaza in October, in response to Hamas’ attacks on Israel. 

Last year, a number of musicians from across the world of electronic music signed an open letter condeming Israel’s “brutal and ongoing attack on Gaza”.

Earlier this year, more than 1,000 musicians from Sweden, including Robyn, Peder Mannerfelt, Axel Boman, Fever Ray and DJ Seinfeld, signed an open letter protesting Israel’s inclusion in 2024’s Eurovision Song Contest.

In March, Queer House Party and Ravers For Palestine hosted a livestream with I. JORDAN, GGI 끼, BAESIANZ, and more to fundraise for striking artists. A 93-track compilation in support of Palestine and Haiti curated by New York label collective PTP was also released in February.