At one point during A Gathering for Gaza – a live music fundraiser held on Saturday in Melbourne – comedian host Nazeem Hussain received a text from the husband of Randa Abdel-Fattah.
The Palestinian Australian writer has been the eye at the centre of the Adelaide writers’ week storm, and she needed cheering up: could Hussain send a funny video across?
He decided to do one better, filming a video from the stage of the almost 5,000-strong crowd cheering for the writer.
It was an example of the community spirit and joy that drove the one-day benefit event held at Port Melbourne Industrial Centre for the Arts, which raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to figures shared from the stage.
‘Art is a form of resistance’: Miss Kaninna performs at A Gathering for Gaza. Photograph: Ashlea Caygill
Part music festival, part protest, A Gathering for Gaza featured live music interspersed with short speeches from activists and humanitarian groups, with funds from tickets, merch and the bar going towards Olive Kids, Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association, Palestine Australia Relief and Action, and Médecins Sans Frontières Australia.
From the stage, Free Palestine Melbourne organiser Mai Saif said she recognised plenty of the keffiyeh-dotted crowd from the rallies that have taken place almost weekly for years. “I see you come out in solidarity for us,” Saif, who was born in Palestine and still has family there, said. “Even in those darkest times, you see Palestinians resisting through voice, art, self-expression and humanity. Art is a form of resistance, and part and parcel of our culture and identity.”
Featuring a single-stage lineup of homegrown eclectic and acclaimed musical acts, the atmosphere recalled beloved boutique Melbourne festival Golden Plains. There was a smorgasbord of styles, from the powerpop of the Belair Lip Bombs to the melting harmonies of Folk Bitch Trio; the furious fun of Indigenous rapper Miss Kaninna to the spiritual communion of Angie McMahon and self-excavating indie rock of Julia Jacklin. Genesis Owusu closed the night with a genre-defying one-man show, and between sets, local DJs such as Cut Copy, Harvey Sutherland and Adriana kept the energy high.
Angie McMahon and Julia Jacklin perform McMahon’s cover of Australian Crawl’s classic Reckless. Photograph: Ashlea Caygill
Art as resistance was a theme echoed by Yousef Alreemawi, the Palestinian Australian founder of Arabic music group Tarab Ensemble. He quoted the German poet Novalis who wrote, “Poetry heals the wounds inflicted by reason.”
“Before the dust settles, the poets start writing, singers start singing, stories start being created,” Alreemawi said over musical backing. “Art becomes essential for survival.”
Tarab is an Arabic term describing a deep pleasure state through music, and the group – with members from Palestine, Syria, Australia, Armenia and Egypt – lived up to its name. Blending Arabic instruments such as the oud (lute) and riq (percussion) with western ones such as saxophone and double bass, the result was a hypnotic, blissful transportation.
Ashley Killeen, acting executive director for MSF Australia, told the crowd the organisation – which has been working in the Palestine region since 1988 – has had its registration to supply medical aid denied, to a communal cry of “shame”. Palestine Australia Relief and Action founder Rasha Abbas shared a story of hope to balance the pain, about a teenager who spent eight hours downloading tutorials in Gaza to study, and has recently been accepted to an Australian university on a scholarship.
Nasser Mashni of Australia Palestine Advocacy Network addresses the crowd. Photograph: Ashlea Caygill
McMahon brought Jacklin on stage for her cover of Australian Crawl’s Reckless, with reimagined lyrics that captured the crises of today (“Blowing up entire bloodlines / Wе want to own the land we found / We’re still contributing to war crimes / While we’re drilling money and years out of the ground”).
Jacklin returned the favour by welcoming Palestinian Australian soul singer Yara to the stage for the lilting early single Pool Party, another moment embodying the connection we can all find in art.
The sartorial choice of the day, other than the keffiyeh, was a Kneecap T-shirt, in particular the design collaboration with Indigenous Australian artist Aretha Brown – no huge shock, given the Irish hip-hop trio’s outspoken and ongoing support of Palestine. What was surprising was the group’s member Mo Chara – who made headlines last year for terrorism charges that were later dropped – appearing via video to encourage the crowd to keep up their activism.
It was one poignant moment of many on a day celebrating the power of art and community to build hope and create change. In his speech, Jewish Council of Australia executive member Ohad Kozminsky quoted the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish: “Every beautiful poem is an act of resistance.”