Pro-Palestinian slogans rang out around London’s Ovo Arena Wembley on Wednesday, with the 12,500-capacity venue sold out for Britain’s biggest fundraising event for the people of Gaza.
The livestreamed “Together for Palestine” (T4P) concert, with tickets at £70 ($95) each, was the latest in a series of pro-Palestinian events in the British capital, which has seen a wave marches and demonstrations since the conflict began nearly two years ago with the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel.
British musician and political activist Brian Eno organized the fundraiser to support charities working in the war-torn territory and to encourage celebrities to speak out.
The line-up included actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Florence Pugh, documentary maker Louis Theroux, whose last film saw him travel to the West Bank to interview Israeli settlers, as well as Palestinian voices and human rights activists.
Eno told AFP that no venue would accept an event with the word “Palestine” in it this time last year.
But “things have changed,” he said. “Israel thought starving a whole population would be fine with everyone… I think that changed people’s minds.”
The United Nations last month officially declared a famine in Gaza, blaming “systematic obstruction” of aid by Israel during the war.
On Tuesday, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, which does not speak on behalf of the world body, said that “genocide is occurring in Gaza,” again blaming Israel.
Israel, which has been waging a campaign against Hamas since Palestinian terrorists killed some 1,200 people and abducted 251 hostages during the October 2023 attack, has strongly denied the famine and genocide allegations and called the latest report “distorted and false.”
T4P participants said it was unacceptable to remain silent.
The crowd, many waving Palestinian flags, cheered Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, a strident anti-Israel critic who has been accused of antisemitic and pro-terror rhetoric.
“The genocide in Gaza is a defining moment,” the Italian human rights expert told AFP.
“Anyone who holds a position of power, including to narrate, has the responsibility to take part in this, to make people understand that they shouldn’t feel fear to speak.”
Palestinian artwork curated by Gazan artist Malak Mattar decorated the stage, depicting the situation in Gaza.
“We want to empower people to take action,” Mattar said. “We owe the people of Palestine our solidarity.”
Funds raised from Wednesday’s concert and online donations will go to British charity Choose Love, to support Palestinian-led organizations providing humanitarian relief.
More than 65,000 people Gaza have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed over 22,000 combatants in battle as of August and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 465. The toll includes two police officers and three Defense Ministry civilian contractors.