On October 7, 2023, the Supernova music festival in southern Israel, a celebration of life and music, was devastated by a Hamas-led terrorist attack killing more than 360 civilians and leaving survivors scarred by violence, including sexual assault, as documented by UN investigators.
Yet, unlike the global solidarity following other tragedies, the music industry has met Nova’s losses with near silence. From Chris Martin’s misguided blunder at Wembley – telling Israeli fans they were “equal humans on earth” – to Europe’s threats to bar Israel from Eurovision, a troubling double standard has emerged, challenging music’s promise as a universal language of healing.
Among the dead was 25-year-old Shani Gabay, a vibrant festivalgoer whose desperate escape attempt ended in tragedy. She was missing for 17 days before her body was found buried with another victim’s. Hundreds more were wounded or taken hostage.
No star-studded benefit
Yet, the global music industry, built on unity, healing, and resilience, responded with near silence.
No star-studded benefit concert.
No global anthem of solidarity.
No mobilization to declare that Jewish lives, too, deserve the same empathy extended to others.
Contrast this with Manchester, 2017, when a terrorist bomb killed 22 at an Ariana Grande concert. The response was swift: “One Love Manchester” united artists such as Paul McCartney, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and Coldplay, raising over $23 million for victims’ families in a globally broadcast event.
From Live Aid to Black Lives Matter tributes, the industry has a history of rallying for justice – yet Nova’s victims waited in vain for such solidarity. This stark difference underscores a troubling disparity in music’s response to tragedy.
The silence of women’s rights groups
That silence extended even to women’s rights groups, typically vocal against gender-based violence.
UN investigators documented patterns consistent with rape and mutilation at Nova, yet many feminist and women’s rights organizations – including #MeToo, UN Women, and CEDAW – were slow to issue strong, specific condemnations of the sexual violence against Israeli victims.
Their early absence implied that Jewish suffering was less urgent. Some cite political sensitivities, but this delay undermined the universal support survivors deserve, revealing a selective advocacy that marginalized Jewish women’s pain.
At a recent Wembley Stadium concert, Coldplay’s Chris Martin unintentionally highlighted this disparity. Inviting two Israeli fans on stage, he declared that they were “equal humans on earth.” His intent was likely unity, but the words implied that Israelis’ humanity needed affirmation, turning inclusion into alienation.
A broader discomfort
This blunder reflects a broader discomfort with Jewish and Israeli identities, where even well-meaning gestures require careful navigation. Jewish identity is too often treated as uniquely contentious, even in music’s supposedly universal spaces.
This discomfort takes a systemic turn with Eurovision. Led by Ireland, other countries, currently Spain, Slovenia, Iceland, and the Netherlands have threatened to boycott the competition if Israel participates, citing its military actions in response to the October 7 attack.
Yet Eurovision welcomed Azerbaijan during its war in Nagorno-Karabakh; and Turkey during its incursions into northern Syria, facing no boycott calls. Both countries initiated the wars they fought, while Israel was attacked.
Singling out Israel exposes a selective standard. A festival of inclusion risks becoming a stage of exclusion, undermining its own ethos.
The European Broadcasting Union must reject these pressures to ensure music remains a space for all.
Contradicting consistency
This is not merely about benefit concerts, but about consistency. The music industry rallies swiftly for London or Paris, yet hesitates for Jewish victims in Israel.
The failure to act risks perpetuating marginalization, contradicting music’s unifying power.
The victims of Nova, like Shani Gabay, who dreamed of dancing under the stars, were silenced by tragedy. Yet their memory inspires survivors, who vow, “We will dance again.” Their unbreakable spirit demands that they should not dance alone.
The music industry, a beacon of unity, must act to organize benefit concerts for all victims of terror, create songs that confront antisemitism and violence, and ensure platforms like Eurovision remain inclusive.
Jewish grief is human grief, deserving equal empathy. Let the next verse be one of solidarity – for Nova, for the Jewish people, and for a future where no one’s pain is left unsung.
The writer is the director general of the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation, which works globally to combat antisemitism and hate through education, advocacy, and remembrance.