‘They Have Not Pro-Actively Supported The War’: Earth Garden Addresses Criticism On ‘Zionist’ Headliners
Beloved local festival Earth Garden returns for another huge edition this Thursday… but even before the first artist takes to the stage, one of its biggest headliners has come under fire for its “Zionist” affiliations.
Earlier today, Maltese NGO Moviment Graffitti took to social media to slam Infected Mushroom, the legendary Israeli duo who will be headlining this year’s Earth Garden opening night. Saying the musical act had “blatantly pushed Zionist messaging and supported charities that promote the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) as they pillaged and killed tens of thousands of Palestinians”, Graffitti went on to say Infected Mushroom “took part in a fundraiser for two Zionist charities: the Tel Aviv Foundation and the Tribe of Nova”.
Later during the day, Graffitti added some clarifications to its initial statement, saying it wasn’t calling for an explicit boycott of the festival, but was raising awareness and encouraging all attendees and participating artists to “actively and peacefully show support for the Palestinian cause.”
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Now, Earth Garden has issued a statement on the matter, clarifying when the act was booked and what steps it took following the 7th October attacks that triggered the latest deadly conflicts in the region.
“Legendary act Infected Mushroom are one of the 140 acts performing at Earth Garden this year happening from the 6th to the 9th of June,” the festival organisers’ statement began. “Infected Mushroom, who are currently on a world tour, have been contracted to perform at Earth Garden prior to the attack on Israel on October 7th, following several requests from their audience to book the legendary act.”
“The attack on Israel on the 7th of October, which has been claimed by Hamas leaders, happened at Nova music festival in Israel,” the statement continued. “As a result of this, Infected Mushroom, who are permanent residents in Los Angeles, USA, released a song of peace as well as performed in an event in Israel, to show their solidarity and sympathy towards the innocent people that perished through that attack which is a very understandable and humane act from their part during that difficult time.”
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“Once the counter-attacks from Israel escalated, Earth Garden felt the responsibility to reach out to Infected Mushroom to re-evaluate their position on the matter. The response from Infected Mushroom, once again was very humane and besides being all for peace and music, they have not pro-actively supported the war.”
“Furthermore, Earth Garden has also reached out to Moviment Grafitti a few weeks ago to clarify the facts to avoid any misinformation and most of all to ensure the safety to the artists as well as the attendees,” the statement continued.
“Earth Garden concludes in saying that first of all, it condemns the upscaled counter attack by Israel on Palestine resulting in the murder of innocent civilians and reiterates that it is the leaders that should take responsibility of their actions and not the people of Palestine or Israel,” the festival’s organisers went on.
“Earth Garden organizers point out that from the 140 acts which have been booked, some have been very vocal on their pro-Palestine views which is their absolute right,” the statement finished. “Earth Garden will never discriminate between different religions, political views, sex orientation and any minority groups. Earth Garden is about unity and music!”
What do you make of this latest development?
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