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British Band Forms Alliance for Musicians Facing ‘Intimidations’ for Accusing Israel of ‘Genocide’ in Gaza
Massive Attack. Photo: BANG Showbiz
The British band Massive Attack announced on Thursday an alliance for musicians who are facing alleged “intimidations from within” the music industry and legal profession as well as “organized censorship” for accusing Israel of committing genocide during its war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza.
“We write as artists who’ve chosen to use our public platforms to speak out against the genocide occurring [in Gaza] & the role of the UK government in facilitating it,” the band, who are ardent critics of Israel, wrote in a statement posted on Instagram. “Because of our expression of conscience, we’ve been subject to various intimidations from within our industry (live & recorded) and legally.”
The English trip hop collective said it is aware of “aggressive, vexatious campaigns” by the group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) and “multiple individual incidences of intimidation within the music industry itself; designed solely to censor & silence artists from speaking their hearts & minds.”
“We won’t standby & allow other artists … to be threatened into silence or career cancellation,” the band added.
Similar versions of the statement were shared on Instagram Stories by the Irish bands Kneecap and Fontaines DC. Musician and producer Brian Eno shared the statement in a post on his Instagram page and the British duo Bob Vylan voiced support for the statement in a comment on Massive Attack’s Instagram post. British singer Paloma Faith expressed solidarity with the new alliance in a comment on Kneecap’s Instagram page. “I’ve been shadow banned for some time !!!” she wrote. “Keep going everyone it’s going to eventually change! Hang in there.”
The musicians in the newly formed alliance encouraged other artists who wish to speak up in support of “Palestine” but are “concerned about industrial or legal repercussions” to contact them. The post announcing the creation of the alliance also called for the “immediate, unfettered access” of international aid to Gaza; a ceasefire to end the Israel-Hamas war; the end of UK arms sales and licenses to Israel; and a “free Palestine.”
Massive Attack additionally highlighted a documentary film about the actions of UKLFI screened on Wednesday night by the British activist group Led By Donkeys.
Massive Attack said in a statement on Friday that the new alliance offers solidarity to 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 censorship in the industry or from legal bodies “terrifying them & their management teams with aggressive legal actions.”
UKLFI responded to Massive’ Attacks accusations against the organization, and detailed its history with the band, in a statement shared with The Algemeiner on Friday.
“Massive Attack has launched an attack on our organization, which helps to protect victims of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel racism,” said Caroline Turner, director of UKLFI. “Unfortunately, antisemitism has become an everyday part of life in the UK, and those trying to protect its victims are now subject to vicious attacks by the perpetrators.”
During Massive Attack’s performance at the Lido Festival in London on June 6, they invited an anti-Israel activist on stage who accused Israel of genocide, apartheid, and a “brutal occupation.” He also compared Israel’s military actions in Gaza to the atrocities Jews faced in the Holocaust. During their set, Massive Attack additionally called for the release of Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti and projected images of Yahyah Sinwar, the late Hamas leader who masterminded the deadly terrorist in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Massive Attack later denied support for Sinwar.
UKLFI was contacted by several Jewish and Israeli audience members at the Lido festival “who were deeply distressed and traumatized by what they saw,” Turner told The Algemeiner on Friday.
“Several of the Israelis attending the performance had friends and relatives who were murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7,b2023, at the Nova festival and were extremely upset by what they saw at the concert,” Turner added. “The band exploited the vulnerability of concertgoers who had come seeking musical unity, instead delivering divisive political theatre. The scenes were reminiscent of history’s darkest chapters — like a Nazi era rally, with crowds chanting in unison, manipulated by carefully crafted messaging. We wrote to Massive Attack to convey this, and requested that future performances do not repeat these actions. We believe in free speech and artistic expression; however we felt this performance crossed a line and made audience members feel deeply traumatized.”
Kneecap shared on Thursday that police in the UK will not pursue legal charges and have dropped their criminal investigation into the group’s controversial Glastonbury Festival performance in late June, where they lead the crowd in several chants of “f–k Keir Starmer” against the UK’s prime minister, as well as “free Palestine.” A member of Kneecap was charged with a terrorism offense in June for allegedly expressing support for the US and UK-designated terrorist group Hezbollah. He is due in court on Friday.
Police also launched a formal investigation into Bob Vylan’s performance at Glastonbury, during which lead singer Pascal Robinson-Foster led the crowd in chants of “Death, death, to the IDF,” referring to the Israel Defense Forces. UKLFI said it reported Robinson-Foser to Avon and Somerset Police in the UK for a possible breach of Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986, which prohibits threatening and abusive words and behavior within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm, or distress. UKLFI also reported the British Broadcasting Corporation to police for live streaming Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury set.
The US State Department has revoked Bob Vylan’s US visa because of their controversial comments at Glastonbury.
Many Jewish bands and musicians who have visited Israel are being boycotted by venues and festivals, having their concerts canceled, or facing intimidation and threats from supporters of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
The post British Band Forms Alliance for Musicians Facing ‘Intimidations’ for Accusing Israel of ‘Genocide’ in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US House Members Ask Marco Rubio to Bar Turkey From Rejoining F-35 Program
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard
A bipartisan coalition of more than 40 US lawmakers is pressing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prevent Turkey from rejoining the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, citing ongoing national security concerns and violations of US law.
Members of Congress on Thursday warned that lifting existing sanctions or readmitting Turkey to the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter program would “jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems” and risk exposing sensitive US military technology to Russia. The letter pointed to Ankara’s 2017 purchase of the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, despite repeated US warnings, as the central reason Turkey was expelled from the multibillion-dollar fighter jet program in 2019.
“The S-400 poses a direct threat to US aircraft, including the F-16 and F-35,” the lawmakers wrote. “If operated alongside these platforms, it risks exposing sensitive military technology to Russian intelligence.”
The group of signatories, spanning both parties, stressed that Turkey still possesses the Russian weapons systems and has shown “no willingness to comply with US law.” They urged Rubio and the Trump administration to uphold the Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and maintain Ankara’s exclusion from the F-35 program until the S-400s are fully removed.
The letter comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed during a NATO summit in June that Ankara and Washington have begun discussing Turkey’s readmission into the program.
Lawmakers argued that reversing course now would undermine both US credibility and allied confidence in American defense commitments. They also warned it could disrupt development of the next-generation fighter jet announced by the administration earlier this year.
“This is not a partisan issue,” the letter emphasized. “We must continue to hold allies and adversaries alike accountable when their actions threaten US interests.”
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US Lawmakers Urge Treasury to Investigate Whether Irish Bill Targeting Israel Violates Anti-Boycott Law
A pro-Hamas demonstration in Ireland led by nationalist party Sinn Fein. Photo: Reuters/Clodagh Kilcoyne
A group of US lawmakers is calling on the Treasury Department to investigate and potentially penalize Ireland over proposed legislation targeting Israeli goods, warning that the move could trigger sanctions under longstanding US anti-boycott laws.
In a letter sent on Thursday to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, 16 Republican members of Congress expressed “serious concerns” about Ireland’s recent legislative push to ban trade with territories under Israeli administration, including the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.
The letter, spearheaded by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), called for the US to “send a clear signal” that any attempts to economically isolate Israel will “carry consequences.”
The Irish measure, introduced by Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Simon Harris, seeks to prohibit the import of goods and services originating from what the legislation refers to as “occupied Palestinian territories,” including Israeli communities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Supporters say the bill aligns with international law and human rights principles, while opponents, including the signatories of the letter, characterize it as a direct extension of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel as a step toward the destruction of the world’s lone Jewish state.
Some US lawmakers have also described the Irish bill as an example of “antisemitic hate” that could risk hurting relations between Dublin and Washington.
“Such policies not only promote economic discrimination but also create legal uncertainty for US companies operating in Ireland,” the lawmakers wrote in this week’s letter, urging Bessent to determine whether Ireland’s actions qualify as participation in an “unsanctioned international boycott” under Section 999 of the Internal Revenue Code, also known as the Ribicoff Amendment.
Under that statute, the Treasury Department is required to maintain a list of countries that pressure companies to comply with international boycotts not sanctioned by the US. Inclusion on the list carries tax-reporting burdens and possible penalties for American firms and individuals doing business in those nations.
“If the criteria are met, Ireland should be added to the boycott list,” the letter said, arguing that such a step would help protect US companies from legal exposure and reaffirm American opposition to economic efforts aimed at isolating Israel.
Legal experts have argued that if the Irish bill becomes law, it could chase American capital out of the country while also hurting companies that do business with Ireland. Under US law, it is illegal for American companies to participate in boycotts of Israel backed by foreign governments. Several US states have also gone beyond federal restrictions to pass separate measures that bar companies from receiving state contracts if they boycott Israel.
Ireland has been one of the fiercest critics of Israel on the international stage since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Gaza, leading the Jewish state to shutter its embassy in Dublin.
Last year, Ireland officially recognized a Palestinian state, a decision that Israel described as a “reward for terrorism.”
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US Families File Lawsuit Accusing UNRWA of Supporting Hamas, Hezbollah
A truck, marked with United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) logo, crosses into Egypt from Gaza, at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah, Egypt, Nov. 27, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
American families of victims of Hamas and Hezbollah attacks have filed a lawsuit against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, accusing the organization of violating US antiterrorism laws by providing material support to the Islamist terror groups behind the deadly assaults.
Last week, more than 200 families filed a lawsuit in a Washington, DC district court accusing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) of violating US antiterrorism laws by providing funding and support to Hamas and Hezbollah, both designated as foreign terrorist organizations.
The lawsuit alleges that UNRWA employs staff with direct ties to the Iran-backed terror group, including individuals allegedly involved in carrying out attacks against the Jewish state.
However, UNRWA has firmly denied the allegations, labeling them as “baseless” and condemning the lawsuit as “meritless, absurd, dangerous, and morally reprehensible.”
According to the organization, the lawsuit is part of a wider campaign of “misinformation and lawfare” targeting its work in the Gaza Strip, where it says Palestinians are enduring “mass, deliberate and forced starvation.”
The UN agency reports that more than 150,000 donors across the United States have supported its programs providing food, medical aid, education, and trauma assistance in the war-torn enclave amid the ongoing conflict.
In a press release, UNRWA USA affirmed that it will continue its humanitarian efforts despite facing legal challenges aimed at undermining its work.
“Starvation does not pause for politics. Neither will we,” the statement read.
Last year, Israeli security documents revealed that of UNRWA’s 13,000 employees in Gaza, 440 were actively involved in Hamas’s military operations, with 2,000 registered as Hamas operatives.
According to these documents, at least nine UNRWA employees took part directly in the terror group’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
Israeli officials also uncovered a large Hamas data center beneath UNRWA headquarters, with cables running through the facility above, and found that Hamas also stored weapons in other UNRWA sites.
The UN agency has also aligned with Hamas in efforts against the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israeli and US-backed program that delivers aid directly to Palestinians, blocking Hamas from diverting supplies for terror activities and selling them at inflated prices.
These Israeli intelligence documents also revealed that a senior Hamas leader, killed in an Israeli strike in September 2024, had served as the head of the UNRWA teachers’ union in Lebanon, where Lebanon is based,
UNRWA’s education programs have been found by IMPACT-se, an international organization that monitors global education, to contribute to the radicalization of younger generations of Palestinians.