Antisemitic Music Outrage
Ravers For Palestine Declare Victory After Forcing Israeli DJ Out of London Club
Israeli DJ Roi Perez's London club performance cancelled after pressure from 'Ravers for Palestine' group, highlighting growing cultural boycott tensions against Israeli artists.
A scheduled club night in East London featuring Israeli and queer DJ Roi Perez was abruptly cancelled after the events promoter yielded to pressure from a pro-Palestinian group that objected to the performer's national identity.
The Cancellation and Promoter’s Stance
Perez was slated to run a house and techno event on October 7 (the date of the second anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel) for the promotion group Origins. However, on Friday, September 27, Origins announced on social media that it was pulling the set after receiving and reviewing a statement from an activist group called "Ravers for Palestine."
In its public statement announcing the cancellation, Origins explicitly linked the decision to its political alignment:
"As a collective, we firmly and unequivocally support Palestinian liberation. We do not want to take any action that undermines that struggle or risks platforming voices in ways that contribute to the ongoing genocide and Israel's settler-colonial project.”
The move is seen as a direct consequence of a cultural boycott targeting individuals based solely on their Israeli citizenship. The cancellation highlights the growing pressure on cultural institutions to disinvite Israeli artists, effectively penalizing performers like Perez—who is also queer—for their national origin, regardless of their personal political views or the non-political nature of their art.