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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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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.

Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.

“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”

GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’

Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.

“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.

“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.

“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.

After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”

RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL

Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”

Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.

“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”

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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco

Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.

People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.

“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”

Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.

On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.

Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.

On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.

“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.

Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.

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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.

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