Last month, ICE agents abducted Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from his home in New York City and took him to an immigration detention center in Louisiana, where he's still being held today. Born to Palestinian parents in a refugee camp in Syria and now a US green card holder, Khalil had a key role in pro-Palestine protests on campus. While he hasn't been hit with any criminal charges, he's currently facing deportation and revocation of his student visa, with the Trump administration making the very hypocritical argument that his activism puts US foreign policy at risk.
Meanwhile, Coachella marched on this month, with numerous artists using their sets to condemn Trump's policies and the United States' involvement in Israel's genocide against Palestine. Among those artists are dream pop stalwarts Blonde Redhead, who waved a Palestinian flag onstage during their Saturday performance. They also played a powerful audio clip of Khalil speaking about his family's history and how Zionists forced them to evacuate to a refugee camp. The soundbite comes from a new documentary film about Khalil called The Encampments. See the clip and watch Blonde Redhead use the sound below.
Over the two weekends of Coachella, Darkside also showed their support for Khalil; Irish rap trio Kneecap made their condemnation of Israel loud and clear; Amyl And The Sniffers shared support to numerous marginalized communities; Circle Jerks' Keith Morris called for an "army of Luigis"; Bernie Sanders gave a surprise speech ahead of Clairo's performance; Thee Sacred Souls spoke from the crowd, "If I deserve the breath in my lungs... so do the Palestinians,"; Bob Vylan rapped “Palestinians have always mattered”; and Green Day made some timely lyric changes to songs like "American Idiot" and "Jesus Of Suburbia." In more Blonde Redhead news, they'll be on tour with Bloc Party this year filling in for Metric, who dropped off the tour over production disputes.
@yasg106_ Artists Against Apartheid, Blonde Redhead @blonderedheadofficial ends their set at Coachella with a message of solidarity with Palestine and calls for the release of all the detained students and academics targeted for their protest of genocide. Their set ended with the sound of Mahmoud Khalil's voice from documentary @theencampments by @btnewsroom@watermelonpictures Artists around the world stand with Palestine and with organizations building the movement for liberation like @palestinianyouthmovement #musica #stand #concerts #liberation #students #gig #worldwide #solidarity #message #coachella #calls #encampment #blonderedhead #organization #youth ♬ original sound - Yazz
