"The music industry has a mixed track record when it comes to altruism: For every Concert for Bangladesh, a thoughtful and timely project that has endured as a piece of era-defining art, there is a "Do They Know It's Christmas?," a song conceived by a handful of rich white musicians who seemed to assume the Christian-majority Ethiopia didn't know the most important Christian holiday."
"I was fearful that Together for Palestine, a huge charity event at London's 12,500-capacity Wembley Arena organized by Brian Eno, Khaled Ziada, Khalid Abdalla, and Tracey Seaward, would fall into the latter category: Israel has been waging a full-scale assault on the Gaza Strip for nearly two years, and, for the vast majority of that time, the upper echelon of the music industry has largely been silent."
"That may be true to a degree-I still find it unnerving that so many with the power to mobilize large groups of people declined to use that power until even once-callous Israel hawks started to acknowledge that the country's actions in Gaza are inhumane-but Together for Palestine was not entirely a milquetoast exercise in "sending love across the world" or preaching apolitical unity in a time of social discord."
The music industry shows both impactful altruism and tone-deaf gestures, with examples ranging from Concert for Bangladesh to Do They Know It's Christmas?. Together for Palestine was a large charity event at Wembley Arena organized by Brian Eno, Khaled Ziada, Khalid Abdalla, and Tracey Seaward. Israel has conducted a near two-year assault on Gaza while much of the music industry's elite remained largely silent. Many initial performers had scarcely addressed Palestine during the early months of the siege and Israel's response to Hamas' October 7, 2023 attacks. The concert functioned as a wake for over 65,000 Palestinians killed, combining upbeat performances with an overall profoundly somber mood.
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