Dozens of musicians, actors, activists, and speakers took to the stage at London’s largest stadium on Wednesday to raise funds for the Palestinian people at a charity concert for the war in Gaza.
The event, “Together for Palestine,” brought together a star-filled lineup at the Wembley Arena and included performances by Bastille, James Blake, Paloma Faith, Jamie X, and PinkPantheress, as well as Palestinian artists such as Sama Abdulhadi, Saint Levant, and Elyanna.
Actors such as Florence Pugh, Nicola Cough,lan and Benedict Cumberbatch, and other prominent figures such as presenter Mehdi Hasan, footballer Eric Can, tona and Francesca Albanese, the UN special envoy for Palestine, also spoke at the event.
The collection was organized by British artist Brian Eno, who also acted. In an article he wrote in The Guardian before the event, Eno said he and others had been working for a year to make it possible.
Even finding a place was a challenge: the mere mention of the word “Palestine” was almost a guarantee of rejection,” Eno wrote. But at some point in the last few months, something changed. Wembley signed a contract, YouTube finally agreed to stream the event, and, most importantly, the artists agreed to participate.
Palestinian artist Malak Mattar helped design the stage alongside renowned stage designer Es Devlin. The stage presented the work of eight Palestinian artists who, according to Vogue, have been killed by Israel.
The charity event comes amid growing global outrage over Israel’s war in Gaza, which has killed nearly 65,000 people, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. On Tuesday, an independent United Nations investigation concluded for the first time that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, joining a growing chorus of experts accusing Israel of genocide. The Israeli Government has strongly rejected the allegations of genocide.
On Tuesday, Israel announced that it was starting a ground incursion into Gaza City, defying international condemnation and warnings that the action would aggravate an already serious humanitarian crisis, with parts of Gaza officially declared in famine.
Profits from ticket sales for the sold-out event on Wednesday night were earmarked for Palestinian organisations through Choose Love, a UK charity that supports aid workers in conflict zones. Fund-raising groups include the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, and Taawon, which runs orphan care programmes in Gaza.
At 10:00 p.m. local time, actress and activist Jameela Jamil announced that the show had raised 1.5 million pounds ($2 million), according to The Guardian.
Paloma Faith performed in a dress made of a kufiya, a traditional Middle Eastern headscarf and symbol of Palestinian identity. Eno read the poem “Oh rascal children of Gaza” by Palestinian writer Khaled Juma.
Several speakers criticized other celebrities for remaining silent on the continued suffering of the Palestinians.
Silence in the face of such suffering is not neutrality. It’s complicity. And empathy shouldn’t be so difficult and should never have been, actress Florence Pugh said, according to videos posted online.
“There are many artists I love, and I know you love, who have hundreds of millions of followers, and are not saying anything right now,” actress Nicola Coughlan said.
Before the charity concert, dozens of celebrities, including Grammy-winning artist Billie Eilish, Oscar-winning and protagonist of “Oppenheimer” Cillian Murphy, and award-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix, participated in a video calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“We have to tell the truth on behalf of the people of Palestine,” Scottish actor Brian Cox said in the video.
American photographer and activist Nan Goldin said: “The role of the artist in society has always been to raise his voice, to risk telling the truth to power.”
Steve Coogan, actor, producer, screenwriter, and English comedian, also appears in the video.
Is it important to raise your voice now, not when this is over, but right now, while it is happening, to pressure your government? They support those who are campaigning peacefully for Palestine. “Demand a ceasefire, stop the deaths,” Coogan said.
Wednesday’s charity concert comes just days after celebrities showed their support for Gaza at the Emmy Awards. Emmy nominee Javier Bardem appeared on the red carpet with a kufiya, a traditional Palestinian handkerchief, to denounce what he described as the genocide in Gaza. Hannah Einbinder, who won an Emmy for her role in the TV series Hacks, asked for a free-killer onstage.
Hundreds of artists have joined Artists4, a campaign that in late October 2023 published a letter urging the U.S. Congress and then-President Joe Biden to call for an immediate ceasefire.
At last year’s Oscars, Eilish and his brother and musician Finneas were among the celebrities who wore on the red carpet red pins of flap of Artists4, calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and the handing over of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
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