Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

[SvennoJ]

Kehlani concert at NYC’s Central Park cancelled after singer supported Palestine

New York’s Summer Stage concert series said, in a post on Instagram, that it has cancelled its Pride benefit concert with R&B singer Kehlani after Mayor Eric Adams’s office expressed “safety and security” concerns.

The cancellation comes after New York representative Ritchie Torres claimed that Kehlani, who has been a vocal supporter of Palestinians, had called for the “dismantling of Israel”.

Kehlani has responded to previous criticisms of their pro-Palestinian activism, saying: “I am anti-genocide. I am anti the actions of the Israeli government. I am anti an extermination of an entire people.”

PEN America’s Jonathan Friedman said the decision to cancel the show was “cowardly”.

“No one wins when politicians meddle to suppress artistic expression,” Friedman said in a statement.


_{Kehlani performs at All Points East festival in Victoria Park, London}


Students hang giant Gaza banner at Cornell University

Student activists hung a 9-metre (30-foot) banner reading GAZA in giant red letters from the McGraw Tower at Cornell University in Ithaca on Monday.

The protest comes as the Trump administration has reportedly frozen more than $1bn in funding for the university in upstate New York, an action partly linked to a push to get universities to crack down on protests against the war.

Cornell has since cancelled a performance by singer Kehlani, who has been a vocal supporter of Palestinians.

Students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests at the university have also faced penalties, including PhD student Momodou Taal, who left the United States last month after his student visa was revoked.


_{The banner was hung from scaffolding on the university’s McGraw Tower on Monday}