Massive Attack at Byblos, Lebanon – July 29

Influential British band Massive Attack dedicated their only Middle East gig to the children of Gaza, openly condemning Israel’s “massacre” of the Palestinians.

As the band played in Byblos, in Lebanon, just a few hundred kilometres north of Gaza, swaying music-lovers on Tuesday night held up Palestinian flags as Massive Attack issued a rare, explicit condemnation of Israel’s offensive.

Frontman Robert Del Naja said: “This bombardment of an area that is one of the most densely-populated on earth, where civilians aren’t allowed to leave, is just beyond belief.”

Referring to Israel, he said backstage: “In order to protect yourself, do you really want to massacre another people? In the 21st century, it’s beyond belief.”

Del Naja, whose Bristol band has enjoyed huge success since the early 1990s, slammed the world’s inaction.

“The politicians, they stay silent. It’s perverse, it almost suggests they’re not fit for office,” he said.

The band accompanied their tracks with a shower of messages flashing on a huge black screen, expressing solidarity not only with the Palestinians, but also with Syrian refugees and with Christians forced by jihadists to flee Iraq.

Compilation of an article by Serene Assir, AFP at Your Middle East