Historical evening in London: 69 stars gathered for “Together for Palestine”, more than € 1.75 million for Gaza

ByMuhammad

Wednesday evening, the London WEBLY ARENA welcomed Together for Palestinea major solidarity concert with Gaza. On stage, no less than 69 artists, speakers and activists took turns for almost four hours, from Damon Albarn to Bastille, Pinkpantheress, Hot Chip, James Blake, Paloma Faith, Jamie XX, to the Palestinian figures Sama ‘Abdulhadi, Saint Levant, Elyanna, Nai Barghouti, Adnan Joubran or El Far3i. Florence Pugh, Nicola coughlan, Benedict Cumberbatch, Guy Pearce, Ramy Youssef, Eric Cantona and the Rapporteur of the UN Francesca Albanese spoke, while Richard Gere surprised by improvising a message of “Caravan of love and compassion”.

Imagined and carried for a year by Brian Eno but placed under the artistic direction of the young Palestinian painter Malak Mattar, the show has surmounted many logistical obstacles. Tickets, sold in two hours, have raised more than 1.5 million sterling pounds (around 1.75 million euros), reinforced by a large sale of derivative products created by big fashion names like Bella Freud and Katherine Hamnett. All funds will go to Palestinian medical and humanitarian NGOs. The day before, more than forty celebrities, including Billie Eilish, Cillian Murphy and Joaquin Phoenix, had broadcast a video calling for an immediate ceasefire.

The evening was marked by symbolic gestures: Paloma Faith sang dressed in a dress in keffieh; Benedict Cumberbatch read a poem by Mahmoud Darwish alongside Amer Hlehel; Brian Eno recited the verses of Khaled Juma. Strong interventions, like that of journalist Yara Eid, paying tribute to the 270 journalists killed in Gaza, aroused long ovations, as well as the bewitching performance of the pianist Faraj Suleiman. The final brought together Neneh Cherry and Greentea Peng around the tube Seven Secondsunder cheers.

Beyond the show, Together for Palestine Constitutes a decisive milestone: it illustrates the ability of the world of culture to set itself up in counterweight in the face of governments that turn a blind eye to Gaza’s tragedy. By bringing together musicians, actors and artists of world renown, this evening transformed emotion into political action, giving art a strength of protest and solidarity which far exceeds the borders of the scene.

Everything indicates that this movement will not stop there. Inspired by London momentum, such mobilization could quickly deploy elsewhere, from Europe to Latin America via Africa and Asia. By highlighting the Palestinian cause through music and art, Together for Palestine opens the way to global cultural solidarity called upon to increase in the coming weeks.

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Muhammad

Muhammad is a visionary thinker and passionate writer who has been contributing to Understanding Islam for several years.