London music festival cancels Israeli DJ following outcry from Ravers for Palestine group

Origins’ decision to cancel Perez’s set, which would have taken place at the London nightclub FOLD, has drawn condemnation online, with many noting Perez’s outspoken advocacy for Palestinians.

By Grace Gilson, JTA

An electronic music festival in London has cancelled a set by an Israeli DJ, citing a blog post by an anti-Israel group that criticized the artist for serving as a “linchpin” of Israeli nightlife.

In a Substack post, Ravers for Palestine urged the Origins music festival to cancel Israeli DJ Roi Perez’s set, accusing him of “making apartheid look like a party,” despite his record of advocating for Israeli-Palestinian peace and LGBTQ+ rights.

“This is a DJ who encodes, via his plucky province-to-metropole settler backstory and appropriation of Black house music, the colonial narrative of a benevolent, queer-friendly liberal Zionism,” the blog post read.

The Origins organizers wrote in a temporary post on Instagram — now preserved elsewhere online — that it had canceled the event after learning of concerns about Perez’s “background” from Ravers for Palestine.

“We have read the recent statement from Ravers for Palestine and want to be absolutely clear that as a collective, we firmly and unequivocally support Palestinian liberation,” Origins said.

“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.”

Ravers for Palestine specifically condemned a fundraiser hosted by Perez’s collective Laundrette in Berlin in November 2023.

In announcing the event, Laundrette said it had considered canceling given the “ongoing tragic events.”

But instead, the collective decided to “emphasize our belief in coexistence and our hope for peace” and donate the proceeds to three nonprofits, including the coexistence group Standing Together.

“The funds will directly help survivors and evacuees of the 7/10 massacre, unsheltered Bedouin communities, displaced Palestinian communities due to settler violence, queer arabs in both Israel & Palestine in need of professional psycho-social counseling and other underserved groups,” Laundrette wrote.

Ravers for Palestine argued that the language was a way of downplaying Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, calling Perez and his Israeli supporters “settlers” themselves.

“Let’s be clear—’peace’ in this context is a euphemism for the orderly annihilation of Palestinian life,” the blog post read.

“Any settler advocating for ‘coexistence,’ rather than full decolonization and right of return, supports the colonial occupation of Palestine and its continuance.”

Origins’ decision to cancel Perez’s set, which would have taken place at the London nightclub FOLD, has drawn condemnation online, with many noting Perez’s outspoken advocacy for Palestinians.

“AS AN ISRAELI!!!, I find it embarrassing to read what you wrote. Roi is one of the most prominent Israeli figures pushing against the state narrative, openly supporting Palestine and every action against Israel — and yet he’s the one you’re trying to crucify,” wrote one commenter on Ravers for Palestine’s Instagram post announcing the cancellation.

Similar comments from people who said they were not Israeli also appeared.