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Organizers of Local Music Awards in Australia Vow to Back Anti-Israel Musician Despite City Funding Being Pulled
A protester holds a sign that reads, ”From the river to the sea Palestine will be free” during a pro-Palestinian emergency demonstration outside the Consulate General of Israel in Houston, Texas, on March 19, 2025. Photo: Reginald Mathalone via Reuters Connect
Organizers of a music awards ceremony that celebrates artists in northeastern Australia said it is their “priority” to support an avid anti-Israel jazz musician, who won a top honor at the recent show for her anti-Israel composition and then repeatedly criticized the Jewish state in her acceptance speech.
QMusic, which is the Australian state of Queensland’s music industry development association and the organizer of the Queensland Music Awards (QMAs), sent a letter to its members on Sunday in support of “River to Sea” composer and pianist Kellee Green. The letter was sent after the Brisbane City Council (BCC) in Australia revoked funding worth $25,000 (US $15,755) for the QMAs effective immediately because Green’s seven-minute instrumental compassion won the jazz award at the annual ceremony on March 25.
A further $450,000 (USD $283,590) in annual funding to QMusic is also under review, according to The Guardian. Queensland’s Arts Minister John-Paul Langbroek said in a recent statement that the awards show “should have never been the place for this divisive commentary to occur.”
“There are consequences for words and actions,” he added. “I have sought an explanation from QMusic. I will be questioning the awards process, current eligibility criteria, and comments made at the awards ceremony.”
In the letter to QMusic members, CEO Kris Stewart wrote: “One of our QMAs winners and members, Kellee Green, who, along with the QMAs, has received a lot of media attention in the days since the awards. Supporting Kellee is a priority, and I apologize for the delay in sharing this update with our members.”
“We have remained in regular contact with Kellee following the QMAs to ensure she is supported and has access to professional support services,” Stewart added in part. “The safety and wellbeing of our members and the wider music community is our shared responsibility … This moment serves as a reminder of the importance of a strong, united music community.”
Green, who is also a teacher at a private Catholic girls’ school, attended the QMAs on March 25 wearing an ensemble that prominently featured the colors of the Palestinian flag. The title of her composition “River to Sea” is a nod to the anti-Israel slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The phrase is largely recognized as a call for the destruction of the Jewish state — located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea — and for it to be replaced with “Palestine.”
In her acceptance speech after “River to Sea” won the jazz award, the Brisbane-based artist accused Israel of “76 years of genocide against the people of Palestine.” She claimed Israel “kill[s] innocent Palestinian men, women, and children,” and called for a boycott of the Jewish state. She also criticized the Australian government for supporting Israel. She alleged that Australia is “complicit in war crimes,” and “supports the mass slaughter and ethnic cleansing of an entire race of people.” Green ended the speech by proclaiming, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Her comments were condemned by Jewish groups as well as Brisbane’s Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, who called Green’s “promotion of antisemitism” at the QMAs “utterly shameful and divisive.” He criticized QMusic for giving an award “to an offensively titled anti-Jewish song” and allowing “vile hate speech” at the QMAs. Stewart responded to the backlash about Green’s song winning an award by saying that while QMA judges “recognize that this phrase [‘River to Sea’] carries political connotations, the title did not stand out as divisive within the volume of songs received.”
Brendan Cahill, the principal of the school Brigidine College in Indooroopilly where Green teaches, issued a statement to parents of students last week announcing that Green had agreed to take a leave of absence from the school, The Guardian reported. Green assured him that she had not made any political statements to students, and the school is further investigating Green’s “personal musical recordings,” Cahill added. The school has also been in contact with the Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies, which has called for QMusic to revoke Green’s award. Green’s website has since gone private, and she deactivated her social media accounts.
More than 2,000 members of the music industry have signed a statement in solidarity with Green that was launched by Taiwanese-Australian composer Matt Hsu, the founder of Brisbane’s Obscure Orchestra. A number of pro-Palestinian groups — such as the Facebook group called Teachers and School Staff for Palestine NSW — have also come out in support of Green and her song amid the controversy.
The post Organizers of Local Music Awards in Australia Vow to Back Anti-Israel Musician Despite City Funding Being Pulled 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.