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<\/a><\/p>\nIsraeli DJ Roi Perez performs at H\u00d6R BERLIN in February 2023.(Screenshot\/H\u00d6R BERLIN)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In a Substack post, Ravers for Palestine urged the Origins music festival to cancel Israeli DJ Roi Perez\u2019s set, accusing him of \u201cmaking apartheid look like a party,\u201d despite his record of advocating for Israeli-Palestinian peace and LGBTQ+ rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis 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,\u201d the blog post read.<\/p>\n
The Origins organizers wrote in a temporary post on Instagram \u2014 now preserved elsewhere online \u2014 that it had canceled the event after learning of concerns about Perez\u2019s \u201cbackground\u201d from Ravers for Palestine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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,\u201d Origins said. \u201cWe 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\u2019s settler-colonial project.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ravers for Palestine specifically condemned a fundraiser hosted by Perez\u2019s collective Laundrette in Berlin in November 2023.<\/p>\n
In announcing the event, Laundrette said it had considered canceling given the \u201congoing tragic events.\u201d But instead, the collective decided to \u201cemphasize our belief in coexistence and our hope for peace\u201d and donate the proceeds to three nonprofits, including the coexistence group Standing Together.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d Laundrette wrote.<\/p>\n
Ravers for Palestine argued that the language was a way of downplaying Israel\u2019s treatment of Palestinians, calling Perez and his Israeli supporters \u201csettlers\u201d themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s be clear\u2014\u2019peace\u2019 in this context is a euphemism for the orderly annihilation of Palestinian life,\u201d the blog post read. \u201cAny settler advocating for \u2018coexistence,\u2019 rather than full decolonization and right of return, supports the colonial occupation of Palestine and its continuance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Origins\u2019 decision to cancel Perez\u2019s set, which would have taken place at the London nightclub FOLD, has drawn condemnation online, with many noting Perez\u2019s outspoken advocacy for Palestinians.<\/p>\n
\u201cAS 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 \u2014 and yet he\u2019s the one you\u2019re trying to crucify,\u201d wrote one commenter on Ravers for Palestine\u2019s Instagram post announcing the cancellation. Similar comments from people who said they were not Israeli also appeared.<\/p>\n