Over 400 artists pull their music from 'Israel' over Gaza genocide
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MIKE, Massive Attack, Kneecap, and Primal Scream protest the Gaza genocide by removing music from Israeli platforms.
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A festivalgoer holds a newspaper that reads "Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! Palestine No Solution But Liberation" during the performance of hip hop trio Kneecap at Glastonbury Festival in Worthy Farm, Somerset, England, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP)
More than 400 artists and music labels, including Massive Attack, Kneecap, Primal Scream, and Rina Sawayama, have backed a campaign to remove their music from streaming platforms in the occupied Palestinian territories, citing the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The initiative, called “No Music For Genocide,” encourages artists to geo-block or fully remove their work from access inside the Israeli occupation. Organizers say the cultural boycott is “just the beginning” of a larger movement to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for crimes against humanity.
Among those taking part are Fontaines D.C., MIKE, Faye Webster, King Krule, Japanese Breakfast, and Arca, alongside labels such as Bayonet Records and PAN. The campaign is pressing global distributors like Sony, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music to follow suit, noting that these companies restricted their catalogs in Russia soon after the start of the Ukraine war.
“Culture can’t stop bombs on its own, but it can help reject political repression, shift public opinion toward justice, and refuse the art-washing and normalization of any company or nation that commits crimes against humanity,” the group said on its website.
Drawing on boycott precedents
The coalition compared its actions to past cultural boycotts, including campaigns against apartheid South Africa. It also highlighted recent solidarity actions: the Film Workers for Palestine pledge, Spain’s ban on Palestine-bound ships and planes, and Moroccan dockworkers refusing to load weapons bound for Tel Aviv.
Campaigners described the boycott as a “tangible act” that helps advance Palestinian calls to isolate and delegitimize the Israeli regime's policies. “The more of us there are, the stronger we will be,” the statement added.
The campaign follows a UN inquiry concluding that the Israeli occupation has committed genocide in Palestine, naming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, and former Security Minister Yoav Gallant as inciting acts of genocide.
'Israel' guilty of genocide
In a 72-page report released Tuesday, the UN Human Rights Council’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry found that "Israel" had carried out “four genocidal acts” since October 7, 2023. These included mass killings, inflicting “serious bodily and mental harm,” deliberately creating conditions of life aimed at destroying Palestinians “in whole or in part,” and measures intended to prevent births.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, nearly 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since the genocide began, most of them women and children.
"Israel" dismissed the findings, calling them “false and distorted.”
The Trump administration has consistently supported "Israel", pulling the US out of the Human Rights Council during Trump’s first and second terms.
#GameOverIsrael
The artists' boycott of the Israeli occupation comes after a coalition of advocacy organizations and fan groups called on European soccer federations to boycott "Israel" by launching a billboard in New York's Times Square that went live on Tuesday, kicking off their #GameOverIsrael campaign months ahead of the World Cup.
New York is scheduled to host eight matches, including the final, in next year's quadrennial World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico.
The campaign calls on soccer federations in Belgium, England, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Scotland, and Spain to boycott the Israeli team and ban Israeli players from domestic competitions, citing the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
