An Israeli entertainer was scheduled to perform at a London electronic music festival—until a pro–Palestinian group published a critical blog post. Origins Sound had planned an event with DJ Roi Perez of Israel, who was among those who performed at Glastonbury this year.
In a Substack post, the ‘Ravers for Palestine’ collective urged the Origins Sound festival to drop Perez, who it accused of “making apartheid look like a party:”
This is a DJ who encodes, via his province–to–metropole settler backstory and appropriation of Black house music, the colonial narrative of a benevolent, queer–friendly liberal Zionism.
The allegations were made despite Perez advocating a two-state solution for the region.
Origins Sound then posted on social media that it had read the Substack post and wanted to make it clear that the members of the collective “stand firmly and unequivocally in support of Palestinian liberation.” They were keen to stress that they
do not want to take any action that undermines this struggle or risk spreading voices in a way that contributes to the ongoing conflict and Israel’s colonization project.
While “spreading voices” is code here for ‘free speech,’ it remains clearer than the convoluted verbiage of the original Ravers for Palestine Sustack post.
This latest cancellation is part of a depressing antisemitic drift in the UK creative industries.
DJ Roi Perez is not to be confused with Roi Pearce, frontman of streetpunk band The Last Resort.
