The line-up for the Palestine benefit concert at Wembley Arena overseen by Brian Eno includes top Palestinian and British artists, who are raising funds for Choose Love, a British charity supporting Gaza
One of the largest-scale benefit concerts for Palestine is set to take place on September 17 at Wembley Arena. Titled Together for Palestine, the benefit is being overseen by Brian Eno, bringing together Palestinian and British artists for the concert.
The concert will raise funds for British charity Choose Love, who are working with 23 partner organisations in Gaza delivering food, medical supplies and other areas of support.
Top UK artists including Bastille, Cat Burns, Mabel, and Paloma Faith are just a few who will grace the stage along with Palestinian musicians Adnan Joubran, Faraj Suleiman and Nai Barghouti. There will be “one-off contributions” from Rina Sawayama, PinkPantheress and Riz Ahmed.
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Brian Eno explained the importance of the concert: “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.”
The concert is being produced by Khaled Ziada, founder and director of the London Palestine film festival alongside Eno and Tracey Seaward, who was the film producer for the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony.
Ziada commented on the silence of “governments and mainstream media” and how “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.”
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Es Devlin, who is in charge of the concert’s production design and is an Olivier and Tony award-winning stage designer, has designed shows for theatre and pop shows for Beyoncé, The Weeknd and Lady Gaga. Devlin is working with Malak Mattar, a Palestinian artist, and described how the Wembley Arena stage will express “the rich beauty of Palestinian culture”.
Other artists set to perform also commented on their reasons joining the concert. Rachel Chinouriri, who supported Sabrina Carpenter’s tour, encouraged other musicians to join her 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.”
Damon Albarn also voiced how “Pacifism is an action. Peace is an action. To live peacefully requires vision and commitment.” Albarn continued, expressing how grateful he is “for this opportunity to act in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
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