A star-studded charity concert titled Together for Palestine raised about $2 million for Gaza at London’s OVO Arena, Wembley. The event on Wednesday night featured performances and appearances by Richard Gere, Benedict Cumberbatch, Florence Pugh, Damon Albarn, Jamie XX, Bastille, Hot Chip and others, and sold out within two hours of ticket release.
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Benedict Cumberbatch (center) and Ruth Negga at the Together for Palestine event
(Photo: Jim Dyson/Getty Images for ABA)
The concert was organized by British artist Brian Eno, who also performed, and followed a year of planning. In a pre-event article for The Guardian, Eno noted that securing a venue had been challenging, with many initially rejecting the event due to its association with Palestine. “But in the past few months, something changed. Wembley signed a contract, YouTube finally consented to streaming the event, and – most importantly – artists agreed to appear,” he said.
Ticket proceeds were directed to Palestinian organizations via the UK-based charity Choose Love, including the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS), and Taawon, which supports orphans in Gaza.
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Richard Gere at the Together for Palestine event
(Photo: Amir Hussein/WireImage for ABA)
During the event, artworks by eight Palestinian artists killed in the conflict were displayed on stage.
Speakers criticized prominent artists who remained silent on the suffering in Gaza. “Silence in the face of such suffering is not neutrality — it is complicity,” Florence Pugh said. "Empathy should not be this hard and it should’ve never been this hard."
"Bridgerton" actress Nicola Coughlan added: “There are many artists that I love, and that I know you love, that have hundreds of millions of followers, and they're saying nothing in this moment.”
Florence Pugh speaks up at the 'Together for Palestine' fundraiser
The concert comes days after Hollywood stars publicly expressed support for Gaza at the Emmy Awards. Javier Bardem wore a keffiyeh on the red carpet, while Emmy winner Hannah Einbinder called from the stage to “Free Palestine.”