Artists unite for a Palestine benefit concert at London’s Wembley Arena – Culture

A benefit concert for Palestine will be held at the Wembley Arena in London on September 17. Several artists will be performing at the concert, the proceeds of which will be donated to charity organisations working in Gaza.

Called Together for Palestine, the concert, helmed by musician Brian Eno, will bring together British and Palestinian artists at the 12,500-capacity venue to raise funds for Choose Love, a British charity working with 23 partner organisations in Gaza to deliver food, medical supplies and other support, reported The Guardian.

Tickets for the event are available via My Ticket.

Palestinian musicians Adnan Joubran, Faraj Suleiman and Nai Barghouti are scheduled to perform alongside Eno and a host of top UK artists, including Bastille, Cat Burns, Damon Albarn, Greentea Peng, Hot Chip, James Blake, Jamie xx, King Krule, Mabel, Obongjayar, Paloma Faith, Rachel Chinouriri and Sampha.

Artists like Rina Sawayama, PinkPantheress, and Riz Ahmed will also be making small appearances. More names are set to be revealed in the coming weeks, according to Billboard.

“In the face of the horrors of Gaza, silence becomes complicity. Artists have always helped societies to point out injustice and imagine better futures. That’s why this concert matters. It’s time for us to come together — not just to raise our voices, but to reaffirm our shared humanity,” Eno said in a statement.

Eno will serve as executive producer for the event along with production managers Khaled Ziada, Khalid Abdalla and Tracey Seaward.

Ziada, who is also founder and director of the London Palestine film festival, said, “In a world where governments and mainstream media have fallen silent in the face of genocide, this gathering becomes a chorus of resistance — where artists and communities come together to grieve, to rage and to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Palestinian people.”

Singer-songwriter Chinouriri, who supported Sabrina Carpenter on a recent tour, called on other musicians to “join [him] in building a bridge to victims in Gaza and beyond, we must break through the privilege of our bubble and speak with truth and justice”.

Albarn said, “Pacifism is an action. Peace is an action. To live peacefully requires vision and commitment … I am grateful for this opportunity to act in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

The production design of the event is being handled by Es Devlin, the Tony award-winning stage designer, known for designing huge pop shows for the likes of Beyoncé, the Weeknd, U2 and Lady Gaga. Devlin, who is collaborating with Palestinian artist Malak Mattar on Together for Palestine, said the Wembley Arena stage “will express the rich beauty of Palestinian culture”.

Eno has been a longstanding supporter of Palestine and the cultural boycott of Israel.

In 2017, he had a dispute with Australian musician Nick Cave over the cultural boycott. Cave characterised the boycott movement as “people that are trying to shut down musicians, to bully musicians, to censor musicians, and to silence musicians”. Eno asserted that it had “nothing to do with ‘silencing’ artists — a charge I find rather grating when used in a context where a few million people are permanently and grotesquely silenced.”

Upon announcing the event on July 31, Eno posted a lengthy statement to Instagram that discussed his intentions behind launching Together for Palestine.

“What we are witnessing in Gaza isn’t a mystery, and neither is it a blur of competing narratives making it ‘hard to understand’,” it read in part. “When dozens of non-partisan organisations like Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders describe it as genocide, the moral line is clear. We can’t remain silent. Which is why I’m helping to organise Together for Palestine — a night of music, reflection and hope at Wembley Arena.”

He added, “My sincere belief is that this evening can become a moment of courage where artists come together to speak the truth in their hearts — which is what we trust artists to do. Whether on stage or by video from around the world, this is a chance for us to stand together and say: this can’t continue.”

Eno formed part of a group of musicians in July who announced the formation of a syndicate for artists speaking out about Israel’s military assault on Gaza, who they say have been subjected to “aggressive, vexatious campaigns” by pro-Israel advocates. Other names involved include Fontaines DC, Kneecap and Massive Attack.