In terms of scale and ambition, few benefits will match Together For Palestine. Organised by Brian Eno alongside actor/activist Khalid Abdalla, Marsm-founder Khaled Ziada and film producer Tracey Seaward, the four-hour fundraiser was an incredible feat, wrangling a truly mind-boggling array of A-listers into Wembley’s OVO Arena, alongside prominent activists and eye-witnesses to the devastation unfolding every day in Gaza.
Needless to say, the fact that T4P needed to take place at all is an outrage. Indeed, its staging the day after a United Nations commission of inquiry stated that Israel has committed genocide, only underscored the importance of collective action in lieu of any meaningful Government intervention. The power of community was the theme of the evening, echoed in speeches from the likes of Richard Gere, Florence Pugh and Eric Cantona, in Palestinian poetry performed by Riz Ahmed, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ruth Negga, and in a diverse musical programme rich in collaboration.
More musically switched-on than your average benefit concert, cult songwriters like King Krule rubbed shoulders with pop powerhouses like Paloma Faith, and surprising pairings abounded. Jamie xx DJed B2B with Samaʼ Abdulhadi, the two of them splicing together 2-step and Palestinian techno. Hot Chip joined forces with Ibibio Soundmachine and Trans Voices to rework Liquid’s rave anthem Sweet Harmony, while Greentea Peng brought out Bastille and Neneh Cherry to perform the latter’s anti-racism smash 7 Seconds.
There was a rare Portishead reunion, the trio supplying a live recording of Roads that proved as spine-tingling as it ever was. Damon Albarn accompanied the London Arab Orchestra and Juzour Dance Collective for a celebratory Palestinian folk piece, and a keffiyeh-clad Rachel Chinouriri and Cat Burns delivered a beautiful, acoustic rendition of their 2024-hit ‘Even’. Paul Weller, Nadine Shah, Alexis Taylor and oud-player Adnan Joubran were just a few of the all-star cast joining Brian Eno in his musical tribute, though the performance was all-but eclipsed by his subsequent recitation of Oh Rascal Children of Gaza by the poet Khaled Juma.
Naturally, it was an evening punctuated by painful recollections and moving tributes, to doctors and journalists, and to the thousands of innocent lives lost to the conflict. There was righteous fury too from Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign Ben Jamal, journalist Mehdi Hasan and United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese. Indeed, 88-year-old Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos received a significantly longer standing ovation than Louis Theroux, Pinkpantheress or any of the rest, reinforcing that last night was never about celebrity.
Fittingly, it was the Palestinian artists who were the real stars of the evening. From Faraj Suleiman’s incredibly intricate piano pieces and Nai Barghouti’s soaring Arabic jazz, to a rotating gallery of Palestinian artwork curated by Malak Mattar, their art was embraced and celebrated by the 12,000-plus people in attendance. And with £500,000 raised in ticket sales alone, and a further million added in donations by the show’s mid-point, their efforts will soon be making a tangible difference to charities in Gaza.
Therein lay the true beauty of last night: in a situation that has felt increasingly irredeemable, Together For Palestine provided a vital beacon of hope. As Riz Ahmed put it so beautifully, earlier in the evening, “This is what community looks like: local voices, global solidarity.”
