redveil used his set at Tyler, The Creator‘s Camp Flog Gnaw festival this past weekend to do a lot more than perform songs, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
At the end of his set on Sunday (November 12), the backdrop behind the rapper began scrolling a list of names. “Behind me is a list of names of Palestinians that’s been killed in Gaza since October 7,” he explained. “Nobody on this fuckin’ list made it to the age of four. Not one.”
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According to World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, a child is killed every 10 minutes in the Gaza Strip. Since Israel begin bombing the region last month in response to a deadly Hamas attack, more than 11,000 people have been killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. That number includes over 4,600 children as of Monday (November 13).
redveil realized that the visual would make his audience “feel something,” spurring them into action. “It’s not complicated — don’t let nobody tell you that shit,” he said. “So listen, I’ma give you something to do, alright? I know I just presented y’all with emotion, y’all wanna do some shit with it.”
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He then presented a website, ceasefiretoday.com, adding: “Go to this fuckin’ website right now. Call your reps. Demand a fuckin’ ceasefire. Then he led the crowd in a “Free Palestine” chant, before leaving the stage.
redveil shared the sequence on social media, calling it the “most important part of my set yesterday” — see it below.
most important part of my set yesterday. watch 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/fEq32zTSTc
— playing w/ fire out now (@redveil) November 13, 2023
redveil is not the only Hip Hop figure to call for a ceasefire in recent weeks. Macklemore said last month that he was “supporting the people around the world who are calling for a ceasefire.”
Drake signed a letter calling for a ceasefire, one that was also signed by Jennifer Lopez, Kehlani, Killer Mike, and Drake’s longtime producer Noah “40” Shebib, who additionally spoke out against the conflict in Gaza last month.
In his statement, he railed against Israeli “colonialism” and advocated for people across the world to “stand with Palestine” in the face of Israel’s heavy bomb attack and looming ground invasion — one that has since begun.
“I live in Canada,” he began. “One of the worlds most brutally violent colonial regimes. Still in active genocides against indigenous peoples. It’s hard to speak as I sit here benefiting from colonial violence to the highest degree.
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“Believing in both the human rights of Palestinians and the right and need of a Jewish state has meant I have always had friends on both sides. And beyond the physical war, seeing them be pushed into extremism by such acts of violence is distressing.”
He added: “This is what colonialism looks like. It’s what it’s always looked like. When will this stop? When will life win over death? The world did not come and stand with the Jewish people during the holocaust. Now we watch as the world does not come and stand with Palestine. I’m ashamed and devastated by it all.”
