US rapper Redveil displays names of killed Palestinian children at music festival, calls for ceasefire in Gaza

Up-and-coming US rapper Redveil displayed the names of Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces since the start of their indiscriminate war on Gaza on October 7, during a music festival appearance on Sunday.

The 19-year-old, who performed at fellow rapper Tyler, The Creator’s 'Camp Flog Gnaw' festival in Los Angeles, made the display of solidarity with the children killed during Israel's brutal onslaught of the enclave in front of an audience of thousands.

Over the past five weeks, Israel has waged a vicious military campaign in the territory, targeting hospitals, schools, and residential buildings and killing over 11,451 Palestinians, including more than 4,000 children.

It has placed Gaza under a complete siege, cutting off water, fuel and food supplies and endangered the lives of premature babies and other patients in Gaza's hospitals.

most important part of my set yesterday. watch 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/fEq32zTSTc

— playing w/ fire out now (@redveil) November 13, 2023

The rapper, whose real name is Marcus Morton, described the set as "the most important of his life," in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

During his set, the rapper could be heard saying: "Behind me is a list of names of Palestinians who [have been] killed in Gaza since October 7. Nobody on this f***ing list made it to the age of four, not one," he continued.

Soon after, Redveil called for a ceasefire in the besieged and bombed territory, while urging the festival’s attendees to do the same by calling their local representatives in the US Congress and by visiting the ceasefiretoday.com website.

The site contains links to relevant petitions, email addresses as well as donations links and information about upcoming protests.

The rapper also stressed that the situation in Gaza "is not that complicated", and encouraged the crowd to shout "Free Palestine".

Redveil could be seen wearing a keffiyeh, a traditional checkered headdress worn as a symbol of Palestinian resistance and identity, as well as a t-shirt bearing the colours of the Palestinian national flag.

A member of the rapper’s staff was also waving the Palestinian national flag behind him.

Many pro-Palestinian activists online praised the rapper for his actions. One user lauded him for "choosing to do something that could jeapordise a major career moment", as a significant number of US celebrities have either sided with Israel or given neutral statements regarding its indiscriminate war on Gaza.