Massive Attack and Kneecap launch pro-Palestine music alliance to resist censorship

Massive Attack, Brian Eno, Fontaines DC and Kneecap have announced the formation of a syndicate for musical artists to resist "aggressive, vexatious campaigns" by pro-Israel groups.

Posting on Instagram, the musicians said they aimed to protect other artists, particularly those at early stages of their careers, from being “threatened into silence or career cancellation” by organisations such as UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI).

UKLFI reported the duo Bob Vylan to the police for leading a chant of “death to the IDF” during their Glastonbury set, sparking an investigation. It also reported the BBC for broadcasting the performance. Bob Vylan have since had several scheduled appearances cancelled after UKLFI sent the letters.

Earlier this year, Mo Chara of Kneecap was charged with a terrorism offence after being accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag at a gig, following a report to police by UKLFI. Kneecap also saw several shows cancelled after similar interventions.

In their joint post, the musicians wrote: “The scenes in Gaza have moved beyond description. We write as artists who’ve chosen to use our public platforms to speak out against the genocide occurring there and the role of the UK government in facilitating it.

“We’re aware of the scale of aggressive, vexatious campaigns operated by UKLFI and of multiple individual incidences of intimidation within the music industry itself, designed solely to censor and silence artists from speaking their hearts and minds.

“Having withstood these campaigns of attempted censorship, we won’t stand by and allow other artists – particularly those at earlier stages of their careers or in other positions of professional vulnerability – to be threatened into silence or career cancellation.”

They encouraged other artists to contact them to make a collective stand on demands, including an immediate and permanent ceasefire, immediate unfettered access to Gaza for recognised aid agencies and an end to UK arms sales and licences to Israel.

In a statement to the Guardian, Massive Attack said: “This collective action is really about offering some kind of solidarity to those artists who are living day after day in a screen-time genocide, but are worried about using their platforms to express their horror at that because of the level of censorship within their industry or from highly organised external legal bodies, terrifying them and their management teams with aggressive legal actions. The intention is clear and obvious: to silence them.”

The Instagram post also highlighted a new documentary about UKLFI projected by activist group Led by Donkeys.

A spokesperson for UKLFI said a Massive Attack show last month had sparked complaints by Jewish and Israeli audience members because it included a comparison of Israel’s actions with the Holocaust and images were shown of the former Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar.

Massive Attack said these were part of a digital collage that should not be isolated or taken out of context.