Enter Shikari have just completed a monumental UK arena tour, with the last show of their Great Britain leg taking place at the iconic Wembley Arena in London last night (February 17th). Whilst on stage in front of thousands of fans, lead singer Rou Reynolds took the opportunity to express his lament for the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as the band’s solidarity with Palestine.
ᴏɴᴇ ʟᴀꜱᴛ ᴋɪꜱꜱ, ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴋɪꜱꜱ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡʜᴏʟᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ.
ᴡᴇᴍʙʟᴇʏ, ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴀᴠᴇ ᴜꜱ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴇ ꜰᴇʟᴛ ɪᴛ. ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ꜰᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴘᴀꜱꜱɪᴏɴ, ᴇɴᴇʀɢʏ, ᴀɴᴅ ꜱᴡᴇᴀᴛ. pic.twitter.com/pP8rE75a0Q
— ENTER SHIKARI (@ENTERSHIKARI) February 18, 2024
The St Albans based band started their captivating speech by stating: “We cannot just enjoy this moment without acknowledging the fact that there are children being blown to pieces by a government and a country that has been completely lost in nationalistic and religious fervour.”
Continuing to express his support of Palestine, Reynolds said: “with the activists and actionists up and down the country who have been blocking and targeting the Israeli weapons manufacturing factories. Our country is very complicit in this atrocity, and supports those who are targeting the investment banks that are effectively bankrolling genocide. We have been yelling ‘Free Gaza’, ‘Free Palestine’ for 15 years. I just hope to God that there is still a Gaza and a Palestine left when this fucking nightmare ends. So let us be grateful for tonight, we have safety. We have community, we have love, we have human connection. Let us treasure this feeling that we all have tonight.”
The current death toll of Palestinians in Gaza stands at 28,775, with around 1,410 Israelis killed and around 100 Israeli hostages still remaining in Hamas captivity after the October 7 attacks. Israel is currently being urged by many Palestinian supporters not to send ground forces into Rafah on the Egyptian border, where many of the strip’s citizens are now living after areas closer to their homes became engulfed by fighting. Around 1.5million people are living in Rafah, among fears that there are few to no other places for Palestinians to seek refuge. The BBC reported “tens of thousands” gathered in London yesterday for pro-Palestine rallies.
This is not the first time the British rockers have spoken out about the horrors of war and their distaste for modern day worldwide conflicts. Their 2012 song Stalemate depicts this, with lyrics such as “Money is made when bombs are dropping in Afghanistan, and when phosphorous falls in Palestine.” The four-piece also signed an open letter for ceasefire in November of last year, alongside other artists such as Architects and The Last Dinner Party.
