Though It's Raining Hard in Palestine
No historic quotes this time — just: Ceasefire now. Free Palestine.
“Unity, unity, unity, you've heard it all before.”
Yeah, we have.
Yet, punk has failed Palestine for decades.
Let’s talk about it.
What am I listening to?
Oliver Boy (All of Our Boys) - Flogging Molly
I’m fucking disappointed.
In case you’ve been living under a fucking rock, the situation in Palestine is becoming more dire by the minute. According to live updates via Al Jazeera, the death toll in Gaza has hit 28,000 as of February 10 — with 67k+ Palestinians wounded. The death toll in Israel from the October 7 attacks remains at 1,139. This is a genocide.
The United Nations says half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population “is now crammed into Rafah with nowhere to go”, warning the displaced “have no homes” and “no hope”.
No homes. No hope. Can you even fucking imagine? No, as privileged Americans, we can’t. Our tax dollars are paying for all of this, btw. While we were all watching the Super Bowl and chomping on Doritos, Israel was bombarding Rafah — preparing to escalate the onslaught of genocide even further. They are able to do these atrocities while Americans are distracted: Christmas, the Super Bowl…what’s next? I can’t even stomach what’s next — I don’t want to know but I also know I cannot look away. We must keep doing all that we can to demand a ceasefire and save innocent Palestinian lives.
Since October, I’ve looked for some kind of solace among all this tragedy and unfortunately, I haven’t found it in any of the music I love.
Punk is the anti-establishment genre. It is rooted in being anti-authoritarian and in-your-face and “fuck the flag and fuck you!” and this is the music that is responsible for a lot of people’s political views writ large. It is the sonic embodiment of rejecting the mainstream, rejecting corporations and big business, rejecting fascism — you know, Nazi Punks Fuck Off! and all that. Bands like The Clash, Black Flag, Bad Brains, the Dead Kennedys, Crass, Minor Threat, Rise Against, NOFX, Operation Ivy, Anti-Flag, Green Day, Against Me!, Leftover Crack, Sick of It All, etc. have been outspoken on the issues for generations…
…so how the fuck are there only two songs by well-known punk bands that are about Palestine. We are talking about a multigenerational issue that has devastated a region and a people for decades on decades and there are two punk songs about Palestine. Maybe three or four if you count some songs that mention the country in passing…but that, to me, isn’t fucking good enough.
The only two songs I could find that are directly about Palestine and anti-Zionist/anti-Israeli imperialism are Haillie Sellasse, Up Your Ass by Propagandhi (1993) and Oliver Boy (All of Our Boys) by Flogging Molly (2011). That’s it. Two songs by major/well-known artists with a decent amount of power and social capital (making this distinction because I know that Palestine liberation is a big thing in local punk and hardcore scenes, but unfortunately, those movements live under the radar and I am exclusively talking about bands that are household names within the genre) since the 1970s when punk music became a thing. That’s fucking disgusting, honestly. Of course, neither of these bands are American or British — who’s surprised?
How is it even possible that punk has totally just not spoken about Palestine in fifty years? Even more so, in my research for this post, I discovered that Johnny Rotten (god, he sucks so much) is pro-Israel and Henry Rollins has been flirting with Israel for years! Going so far as to writing a “both sides” song called "Israel”. I know that The Ramones were famously not political, with Johnny Ramone being a known conservative. But still — I didn’t know that I would be scrapping the bottom of the barrel so hard with this one.
It’s been really hard for me to reconcile everything I know about this genre, community, and everything else it has taught me with the reality that I guess they’re all fucking posers at best and Zionists at worst. Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine has been extremely outspoken about Palestine throughout his career, The Clash at least say the word Palestine in “Tommy Gun” (1978), and Bert McCracken of The Used (not necessarily punk, but I am counting it all the same) has been seen wearing “FREE GAZA” shirts and speaking out for years. But besides those three, that’s all I got.
Let me be clear: the most punk rock thing someone can be is pro-Palestine and anti-Zionist. Period. I am shocked, hurt, and upset that I would even have to say that in 2024. I want punk rock to do right by its roots and scream ceasefire from the rooftops. I want more artists using their huge platforms to talk about this until Palestine is free, in and outside of punk rock. It’s time to use our power and kick and shout like we’ve been told to since MC5 first released Kick Out the Jams in 1970.
It’s time to do fucking better. Here are some resources:
Palestine 101
Stop Gaza Genocide: Ceasefire Now! Toolkit
Take Action with US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
Action Alerts with Jewish Voices for Peace
Find a Protest Near You
A list of trusted organizations to donate to Palestine
Do one small action every day until the suffering ends. Don’t stop talking about the genocide of Palestinians. Ceasefire now. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
PS: There are really good spanish punk bands talking about it and having Songs about it
Soziedad Alkohilka - Nos vimos en Berlin
Ska p - Intifada
And Spanish famous punk singer Fermin Muguruza from Kortatu its a an real activist for Palestine.
And for the end, there is an hardcore band from Boston, Massachusetts called Ramallah and obviously Pro-Palestine 💕
Thank you so much for this post -- I have been wondering about this since last year. It is just so contradictory to punk to support anything anti-Palestine, it boggles my mind. This proves more than ever just how much Palestine is truly the litmus test for everything, for a shred of humanity.
I've become so disillusioned by punk/rock/metal music of late that since October I have been unable to listen to anyone besides artists who have even remotely spoken up a bit. Bring Me the Horizon supposedly wrote a song about Palestine, but it is so subtle, it still feels like trying to play it safe/both sides - but Oli Sykes has spoken up about Palestinian people at least. And yes, The Used. That is about it. System of a Down has always supported Palestine but recently haven't been very vocal.