Over 1,000 Musicians Boycott Israel: ‘No Music for Genocide’

Occupied Palestine (QNN)- More than 1,000 artists have joined the international initiative No Music for Genocide, pledging to remove their music from Israel in support of Palestinian calls to “isolate and delegitimize” Israel.

Since September, the boycott, called No Music for Genocide, is straightforward: artists are asking their labels and distributors to geo-block their music so it cannot be streamed in Israel.

Among the artists are Lorde, Björk and Massive Attack.

According to the movement’s website, this act is “just one step toward honoring Palestinian demands to isolate and delegitimize Israel.”

Despite the fragile ceasefire which took effect on October 10, No Music for Genocide organizers say they’re continuing the boycott amidst the ongoing Istaeli violations of the truce in Gaza, according to the NPR.

“Boycott is one of the most effective and enduring efforts that one can take to fight a militarized, overtly violent, three-headed monster of a system,” blues poet Aja Monet, one of the participants, told NPR.

The musicians’ coalition coincides with a similar pledge from some Hollywood stars to boycott Israel’s state-funded film industry.

In September, an independent United Nations commission of inquiry concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and that countries helping to arm the Israeli occupation government, like the United States, are complicit in the crimes.

Israel has waged a two-year genocidal war in Gaza, killing more than 69,000 Palestinians and destroying over 81 percent of all structures. Nearly the entire population of the Gaza Strip has also been displaced.

Rights groups, including Amnesty International, B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch, have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

“As a U.S citizen, I have a connection to this genocide that is happening using my tax dollars. As a musician, I am sensitive — I think that is necessary for making art,” composer and singer-songwriter Julia Holter, another participant in the campaign, said.

“Every day for over a year and a half now, we have seen horror stories abound in Gaza, and every malnourished baby I see with horrific injuries, every mother or father I see hovered over their child targeted by a sniper makes me think of my child, makes me think of anyone I have ever loved. I feel a responsibility to do something, however small it may be.”

The No Music for Genocide website notes that all three major US labels — Sony Music, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group — ceased operations in Russia shortly after the invasion of Ukraine and pledged to support humanitarian relief efforts. The group argues the same should be done on behalf of Palestinians.

For several participating artists, No Music for Genocide is not an end-all solution, but they say it’s an important form of nonviolent action. Aja Monet says the boycott is only one part of a much larger collective resistance.