Standing Up For Palestine

As Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people continues unabated, we survey worthwhile perspectives on dance music’s response.

It’s been 587 days since Hamas’ October 7 massacre sparked an escalation of violence in the Occupied Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank. The cruelty inflicted upon the Palestinian population has continued non-stop since — relentless bombing (bar a brief, performative ceasefire), blockades of essential food and medical aid, targeted murder of journalists, medical staff, widespread detaining and torture without trial. Amongst other major crises including those in Sudan and Ukraine, the injustice being inflicted on the Palestinian people is a stain on humanity’s conscience that remains at the forefront of many people’s minds even as Western media so often shows its bias by looking away from such immediate, undeniable horror.

Electronic music culture has not been blind to these events — in the immediate aftermath as Israel’s brutal retaliation gathered pace, fundraiser releases and events have continued to show support and raise funds for Palestinian causes. There have been passionate discussions, shows of solidarity and debates around any constructive role dance music can play in an issue so insidiously wrapped up in the higher echelons of Western governments and colonial legacies. At different times action has felt futile, trying to continue with normal life has felt crass, and then a new wave of the nightmare has sharpened focus. Right now, as Israel continues a savage blockade of all food into the devastated Gaza Strip, their intent for ethnic cleansing seems disgustingly obvious.

The urgency to speak up for Palestine has ramped up once again, leading to a few flash points of discourse and action across electronic music. The most noticeable is that around Israel-supporting private equity firm KKR, owners of Superstruct Entertainment who in turn own a bloated portfolio of events and platforms including the likes of Boiler Room, Lost Village, Field Day and Sonar. Palestinian solidarity movements such as PACBI and Ravers For Palestine have highlighted the contentious connections for artists performing at these events at a time when the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement feels like the most direct action it’s possible to take from so far away.

In true IO style, we’re not the first to jump on these issues, and rather than trying to carve out a perspective worth sharing on the discussions taking place, we’d rather highlight the great reporting undertaken by other journalists we greatly respect within the electronic music field, as well as a few interesting takes from artists sticking their neck out and taking a position. Not everything matches up, nor should it in a world of divergent opinions, but the bottom line is solidarity with the people of Palestine. Before we get into sharing some of these takes, we urge everyone to do what they can. Donate, fundraise, organise, march, shout, talk, listen and absolutely inform yourself of products and services to boycott. A single action feels so small as to be worthless, but united we are many, and it’s the very least we can do from our relative positions of privilege.

Ray Philp — When club culture sells out to private equity

In a welcome return from his Microplastics Substack, Ray Philp shone a light on the ways in which private equity is tangled up in dance music, focusing on KKR’s ownership of Superstruct but also highlighting other entities such as heavyweight talent / artist agency Wasserman.

No Tags — Should dance music boycott Boiler Room over Palestine?

Chal Ravens and Tom Lea’s incredible, widely adored dance music podcast No Tags took a typically thorough and insightful look at the direct furore around artists boycotting Boiler Room streams and its upcoming festival. It’s the perfect survey of the moment, zeroing in on especially contentious issues such as South Asian collective Dialled In choosing to continue their partnership, something which has not exactly gone down well with elements of their audience and community. Best of all, Chal and Tom swerve taking any binary position on who has done what, instead presenting the debate with a critical distance that allows space for differing perspectives.

Annabel Ross — Musicians for BDS explain their new Artwash Database

Amongst a run of other insightful angles and interviews on the issue of protest and solidarity with Palestine through the rave world lens, Annabel Ross talked to the Musicians for BDS about their Artwash Database, which details artists that have continued to play in Israel since October 7, 2023. The piece is available to access for free as an introduction to Annabel’s great Substack, which you can subscribe to for a small amount each month.

There are no simple answers, especially for a crew like Dialled In who have done so much to elevate the standing of South Asian electronic music within the contemporary scene after a frankly astounding imbalance spanning decades. Walking away from a huge amount of work and opportunity for an historically marginalised group is not necessarily a simple decision based purely on individual morals. Conversely, Dialled In’s peers Daytimers have pulled out of Lost Village, so they were prepared to put the work and opportunities on the line to make a stand. After all, if we don’t stand up for something so urgent and dire, what exactly do we stand up for? Does the action of boycotting have a meaningful impact — does it tangibly take money away from KKR and, by extension, the Israeli military? Does the stigma placed upon these boycotted events help the cause? No one knows for sure, but there are enough artists who have chosen their stance and made their point. We at IO stand firmly with anyone boycotting in any way — even if the outcomes are uncertain, the message is strong and every incremental increase in noise adds to the hope for change, until the issue is in front of every aspect of day to day life.

And last of all, a slow hand clap for Spanish mega-festival Sonar, who after avoiding the issue for as long as they could came through with an utterly meaningless waft that has been met with the mixture of indignation and disgust it deserves.

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