Over 100 Welsh musicians issue joint statement over Kneecap and Gaza

Stephen Price

Cymdeithas yr Iaith has joined more than 100 musicians including Adwaith, Gruff Rhys and Gwenno who have issued a joint statement saying: "Kneecap is not the story, the story is the slaughter in Gaza"

As a major promoter and supporter of the Welsh language music scene in Wales, Cymdeithas yr Iaith has given its support to the joint statement made by more than 100 musicians who produce music in Welsh, expressing their support for the Irish band Kneecap.

Kneecap have been severely criticised recently for voicing their strong condemnation of Israel and their support for the Palestinian people.

The Welsh music creatives involved in the statement have united to express their strong support for the Palestinian people in the face of the crisis engulfing them and the overwhelming oppression they are enduring, and their statement demands justice and peace for the Palestinians.

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Welsh musician support

Among the musicians who have signed the statement are Welsh artists, Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog, Gruff Rhys, Gwenno, Pys Melyn, Talulah, Mali Hâf, Bryn Fôn, Mellt and Mark Roberts (MR).

One of the statement's promoters, the singer Steve Eaves said: "It is of great concern to us that so much attention has been focussed on the band Kneecap, and much less focus on the relentless Israeli aggression against Gaza, where the population is prevented from accessing food, water, shelter, electricity and medical treatment.

"A number of well-known English bands have already stated their support for Kneecap and it is important that we convey a similar message from Wales.

"Within the Welsh language music scene there has always been a strong tradition of musicians demanding peace and justice, and voicing opposition to racism and apartheid.

"We feel we should always be ready to demand that governments bring an end to war, and that this demand, and all similar opposition to oppression, should never be silenced."

Steve added: "Kneecap's activism is not the story we should focus on, the real story is the slaughter in Gaza and the West Bank.

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Gaza

The Gaza Strip is at critical risk of famine if Israel does not lift its blockade and stop its military campaign, food security experts have said.

Outright famine is the mostly likely scenario unless conditions change, according to findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises.

Nearly a half million Palestinians are in “catastrophic” levels of hunger, meaning they face possible starvation, the report said, while another million are at “emergency” levels of hunger.

Israel has banned any food, shelter, medicine or other goods from entering the Palestinian territory for the past 10 weeks, even as it carries out waves of air strikes and ground operations.

Gaza’s population of around 2.3 million people relies almost entirely on outside aid to survive, because Israel’s 19-month-old military campaign has wiped out most of the capacity to produce food inside the territory.

Nearly the entire population of Gaza now faces high levels of hunger, it said, driven by conflict, the collapse of infrastructure, destruction of agriculture, and blockades of aid.

Commenting on the report, the head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said any delay in restoring the flow of aid “bringing us closer to famine”.

“If we fail to act, we are failing to uphold the right to food, which is a basic human right,” FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said.