Charity event ‘Together for Palestine’ took place at Wembley Arena in London on Wednesday, raising £1.5 million to support Palestinian-led organisations working on the frontlines of the Israel-Hamas war.
The event came just days after a two-year investigation by the United Nations’ Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel found the latter guilty of committing genocide against Palestinians.
However, despite a growing global consensus around genocide in Palestine, Israel has continued to ramp up its attack on the territory, citing security concerns.
Celebs voice solidarity in London
At Wembley, high-profile names from across the globe – including musicians, actors, sportspersons, and journalists – stood in solidarity with Palestine at an event organised by songwriter, artist, and activist Brian Eno.
Hollywood actress Florence Pugh told the crowd: “Silence in the face of such suffering is not neutrality, it is complicity. Empathy should not be this hard and it should have never been this hard.”
Fellow actor Richard Gere also made an appearance, joined on stage by medics who have served on the ground in Gaza, and urged the audience to use their voices by “speaking the truth with generosity and love” because “that’s how you change things”.
Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan, meanwhile, called on other artists to speak up, saying: “There are many artists that I love, and I know you love, who have hundreds of millions of followers, and they’re saying nothing.”
Actor Cillian Murphy and singer Billie Eilish were not present in London but called for a ceasefire in a short video released during the build-up to the benefit concert.
READ MORE: 80th UN General Assembly to tackle peace, AI, mental health
Actors speak out against genocide
A number of public figures have stood in solidarity against Israel, calling for a ceasefire and condemning the entertainment industry’s silence on the humanitarian issue.
In September, more than 1,300 artists, including Hollywood A-listers, announced a boycott of Israeli film institutions complicit in abuses against Palestinians.
Olivia Colman, Ayo Edebiri, Mark Ruffalo, Riz Ahmed, Tilda Swinton, and Javier Bardem were amongst those decrying the “unrelenting horror” in Gaza.
“Inspired by Filmmakers United Against Apartheid, who refused to screen their films in apartheid South Africa, we pledge not to screen films, appear at, or otherwise work with Israeli film institutions – including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters, and production companies – that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people,” the group’s statement read.
Examples of complicity in human rights violations encompass “whitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid and/or partnering with the government committing them”.
Genocide – defined by the UN as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group” – is one of the gravest war crimes.
During the ‘Together for Palestine’ concert, broadcaster Louis Theroux recalled his time producing a documentary in the West Bank, stating that the people of Palestine were “subjected to a kind of slow, grinding, relentless violence”.
Money raised from the concert will be distributed to Palestinian-led organisations such as Taawon, Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, and Palestine Medical Relief Service.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Qatar’s mediation efforts in jeopardy following Israeli attack
Geoffrey H. Latayan 
Vivien Bernardino