KNEECAP and Fontaines D.C. among over 400 artists removing their music from Israel

Over 400 more artists and labels have pledged to remove their music from streaming services in Israel, including KNEECAP, Fontaines D.C. and Massive Attack.

The No Music for Genocide movement described itself as a "cultural boycott" in response to Israel's treatment of Palestinians, widespread censorship of those who speak out for Gaza and the music industry's ties to the Israeli military.

"This tangible act is just one step toward honoring Palestinian demands to isolate and delegitimize Israel as it kills without consequence on the world stage," said No Music for Genocide on its website.

"This initiative is borderless and open to all artists and labels who want to boycott. We hope it leads to additional efforts against the music industry's complicity."

The website also includes informational content explaining how to join the boycott, and clarifies that it can take between 24 hours to seven days after a distributor initiates the process for music to be officially removed from Israel.

In a post on Instagram yesterday, Massive Attack announced they had made a formal request to their label, Universal Music group, that their music be geo-blocked and removed from streaming in Israel as part of the movement, comparing it to similar boycotts against apartheid South Africa.

"In our view, the historic precedent of effective artist action during apartheid South Africa and the apartheid, war crimes and genocide now being committed by the state of Israel renders the No Music For Genocide' campaign imperative," Massive Attack said.

 

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They described No Music for Genocide as "a musician's equivalent" of last week's Film Workers For Palestine campaign, under which thousands of actors, directors and film workers pledged not to work with Israeli film institutions "implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people." Among them were Louisa Harland, Liam Cunningham and Jack Reynor.

Other artists listed by No Music for Genocide include Faye Webster, Primal Scream, Japanese Breakfast and Rina Sawayama, along with labels Bayonet Records, Topshelf Records, Ruptured Records and Simsara Records.

The news follows a report from a UN commission earlier this week, which said Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. It marked the first time such an allegation had been made publicly by a UN body.