Songs for Peace

The events that have taken place over recent weeks in Palestine and Israel have horrified and devastated many. At the time of writing, the death toll in Israel is estimated at around 1,200 people and in Palestine at around 15,000 people. With a temporary ceasefire just ended and conflict resuming, the future of the Palestinian and Israeli people remains hugely uncertain and concerning.

On November 28, some of the biggest names in Irish music came together in Dublin to raise funds for medical aid in Gaza and stand forthrightly against hate. The headliners were Lisa O’Neill, Lankum, The Mary Wallopers and Damien Dempsey, with barrister Joe Brolly MCing. A collective from Irish Artists for Palestine began proceedings. Roisin el Cherif, whose father is Palestinian, conducted a moving performance in Arabic, and spoke briefly about her relationship to the territory and its history. An ambulance worker who has spent much time in Gaza recited a letter. Urging solidarity, she commanded, ‘Never the gun before the child.’ 

Lisa O’Neill sang a deep, resonant version of Mahalia Jackson’s ‘Trouble of the World’ before performing some of her most wonderfully empathetic work, including the spine-chilling ‘Rock the Machine’, a song pleading helplessness in the face of greed and power. She also sang about Mary Harris (commonly known as Mother Jones), an Irish union organiser and teacher who lived in the US in the 19th century. O’Neill’s rough voice sang Jones’ slogan with the full force of her conviction: ‘Pray for the dead / And fight like hell for the living.’ 

Ibrahim Alagha, an Irish citizen who recently escaped Palestine with his family, appeared on stage with Brolly after O’Neill. When asked to speak about his experience, Alagha told the 7,000+ audience members that his children, after weeks of living on thimbles of water, were afraid to drink whole cups once rescued. And although his life has returned more or less to normal, his three year old is still afraid of closed doors, windows and potential explosions. 

The Mary Wallopers’ Andrew Hendy © Molly Keane

Lankum appeared next. Though they have had a hugely successful year, the group recently had a show at a German festival cancelled due to their solidarity with Palestine, the festival stating clearly that the cancellation was due to the group’s ‘political stance.’ Introducing them, Brolly reflected, “It’s outrageous that peace has now become a dirty word.” 

And peace is on the minds of many. Shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, Israeli artist Liraz cancelled her WOMEX performance. Five loved ones were killed in the attack. She apologised for the cancellation on Instagram, writing, ‘I pray for healing and peace. It’s time to stop everything, if not for us then for our children.’ Israeli rock musician Dudu Tassa cancelled his tour with Jonny Greenwood, including a London show at Pitchfork Music Festival, for their album Jarak Qaribak. On Instagram he explained that due to the events of October 7, ‘Jarak Qaribak is unable to undertake the round of performances it planned for Europe. The situation is painful but hopefully one day we will return to normalcy filled with music and love.’

Music and love were, perhaps, the main events of the gig for Gaza. During their performance, Radie Peat of Lankum explained to the stadium, “[It] broke out hearts and hardened our hearts a little, what happened in Germany. But this is just beautiful.” They played an awe-inspiring set, dotted with a number of tracks from their latest, award-winning False Lankum. They were followed by The Mary Wallopers whose Andrew Hendy sang a stirring a capella of ‘The Battle of Clontarf’, the chorus of which runs: ‘Do me justice, treat me fair / And I won’t be discontented / And I won’t be laughed at anywhere / But fairly represented.’ “With all the hate in Ireland at the moment,” The Wallopers declared, referring to recent far-right disturbances in Dublin, “it’s great to see people come out for humanity.” The evening ended with Damien Dempsey pulling out some crowd favourites, the whole room singing into his microphone. Between songs calling for peace and love above all, he echoed others’ sentiments as he told those gathered, “Children, both Palestinian and [Israeli], deserve a better future.” The crowd concurred, uproariously, emotionally.