Israeli fan refunded after being ‘ambushed’ by pro-Palestine messaging at Massive Attack gig

An Israeli music fan said he felt “ambushed and unsafe” during the controversial Massive Attack performance at London’s Victoria Park on Friday evening.

The audience member, who asked not to be identified, received a full refund from the festival organisers after complaining that the heavily politicised show had been falsely advertised.

The JC spoke to the Israeli music lover, who attended the Lido music festival in east London over the weekend to see Massive Attack, an electronic hip-hop fusion band he had enjoyed for years.

Massive Attack played a clip calling for the release of Marwan Barghouti, a Palestinian leader jailed for his part in attacks in which Israelis were killed (Photo: Instagram)[Missing Credit]

“When we arrived at the festival in Victoria Park, we saw a lot of ‘Free Palestine’ pins and t-shirts. We didn’t make anything out of it,” the fan said.

Before the band – who rose to fame in the 1990s – took to the stage, though, The Crown actor Khalid Abdalla delivered a speech about Palestine solidarity.

Abdalla, a patron of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), told the crowd: “The Palestine solidarity movement is the civil rights movement of our time, it is the anti-apartheid movement of our time, it is the anti-genocide movement of our time, and that is why so many Jewish people all over the world are at the core of this movement, fighting for a world in which ‘never again’ means never again for anyone, and in which this brutal Israeli occupation ends.”

But the Israeli man, who attended with four other British-Israeli friends, said he had no idea the set itself would be political.

“I wanted to hear Massive Attack, as someone who grew up on their music. I had no idea about any of their political views; I am not really on social media, so I didn’t know it was going to be like that. They lost me as a fan,” he said.

He went on: “Just when Massive Attack were about to go on stage, we saw this movie they put on the screen. They [Massive Attack] weren’t on stage, so we didn’t understand what was happening. We got closer and closer and saw it was a propaganda movie from the PSC.”

“In seconds, suddenly the crowd was chanting ‘Free Palestine.’

“It felt really hostile to hear all these people chanting and happy to be in solidarity for Palestine and against Israel.”

“We were the minority in the crowd, and it felt like we couldn’t be who we are. What is really disturbing is the fact that people don’t [understand] our view or our trauma."

During the “hostile chanting”, the group decided to leave but were unsure if they might be targeted on their way out.

“Another woman we met also felt intimidated – she wasn’t Jewish or Israeli, she just felt very threatened. Then we met a French woman who was in tears; she was scared to leave the crowd because she didn’t know how people would react.”

On their way out, the group – by then numbering around 15 people who were upset with the messaging – approached the festival promoters and shared their concerns.

“They listened and were understanding. They took our email addresses. Later that night, I received an email from the promoters saying they were sorry about our feelings and that the director of the festival would be in touch.

“Indeed, I received an email from [the promoter] apologising and saying they were sorry they put us in this situation.”

The fan received a full refund for his ticket, his travel costs, and the money spent on drinks at the venue.

The two-weekend festival in Victoria Park was organised by AEG Presents, a subsidiary of Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG).

The fan remains concerned that AEG management falsely advertised the festival, which he said amounted to anti-Israel propaganda.

“Massive Attack have a right to do the show as they want to, but the fact that no one told us PSC were going to be on stage – that it would be an orchestrated political event – it’s not about me being pro-Palestinian or not. I didn’t know I was going to see propaganda on stage. It caught us off guard completely. It was about organising a political event.

“Massive Attack and PSC were selling official merchandise, t-shirts designed for this festival, allowing PSC to be on stage, allowing them to put videos on the big screen – it’s not a fluke. It was well coordinated and organised.”

Massive Attack also played a now-notorious video that included a clip of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind behind the October 7 massacre, and Marwan Barghouti, a senior Fatah leader serving five life sentences in Israel for his part in directing terror attacks in which Israelis were murdered.

In the brief clip of Sinwar which went viral over the weekend, the terror leader and his family can be seen hiding in Gaza tunnels on October 10 2023, just days after Hamas’ October 7 attack.

“The concept of giving terrorists a stage is beyond me,” the Israeli music fan who lost friends on October 7 said.

“When we see Sinwar walking in the tunnels, it means we see our families and other Israelis in the tunnels. For us, it was glorifying him.”

Massive Attack have disputed that the video glorified terrorism, saying the footage was taken out of context.

“Massive Attack categorically reject any suggestion that footage or reportage used as part of an artistic digital collage in our live show seeks to glorify or celebrate any featured subject.”

“To isolate a single section of reportage from the artistic context within which it sits... is tantamount to a willful device to create conditions for misinterpretation or distortion.”

The statement went on, “In the specific case of the film loop that includes reportage of Yahya Sinwar, the entire sequence interplays with scenes from Jean Cocteau's film Orpheus, creating both a placement and implicit tone of horrified lament; that an individual of power can take people down into hell.

"It would be bizarre (and perhaps revealing) that any observer of the live show films would solely home in on the Sinwar/IDF footage and completely overlook all other controversial figures featured in the reportage loops.

“Unfortunately, the only reasonable conclusion is that this level of deliberate context removal, and such a leap of misinterpretation has political motivations.”

The length statement added, “public figures including artists who consistently speak out against Israeli war crimes, apartheid and human rights abuses, and in defence of the Palestinian people are subjected to determined and spurious attempts to discredit us, as a deterrent to us from speaking out. These spurious attempts will always fail.”

Massive Attack, who previously performed in Israel before they announced they were boycotting the state, have threatened legal action against anyone who accuses them of supporting terrorism.

An AEG spokesperson said: "25,000 people came to see Massive Attack on Friday night and we are aware of a small group who raised concerns about the show. The evening didn’t compromise any of the values and processes we follow but equally the experience of all our customers is very important to us. We spoke to those at the event who felt the evening contradicted their expectations and have followed up with them."

The JC approached Massive Attack and the PSC for comment.