Womad, cancel IDF funding Ziggy Marley as your headliner.

In November 2018 Ziggy Marley performed in LA to raise over $60 million for the Israeli Defense Force. By October of that year the IDF had already killed 150 Palestinians and injured 10,000 more. Of those injured were 1,849 children, 424 women, 115 paramedics and 115 journalists. What crime had these Palestinians committed in 2018? They were protesting Israel's 11 year illegal blockade of Gaza.

In 2023, we have all seen the gruesome attacks on Gazans by Israel's IDF. This conflict has seen the killing of over 10,000 Gazans, and has displaced nearly 1.9 million residents ahead of the coming northern winter.

The Womadelaide Foundation is a registered charity listed as helping migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. So why is the headlining act of the 2024 Womad Festival an artist who has promoted and raised funds for the IDF, who has bombed Gaza's neighborhoods past the point of recovery in 2023?

After decades of platforming artists with antiwar ethics and celebrating diversity through music, it is staggering that Womad would platform Ziggy Marley. Here is an artist who works to fund a cruel military that the Human Rights Watch describes as committing '50 years of Occupational Abuses.'

Womad, we call on you to cancel Ziggy Marley's planned headlining appearance at the 2024 Womad Festival. 


Links: 

Womadelaide Foundation Charity Profile​

Amnesty 2018 Great March of Return report​

Israel: 50 Years of Occupation Abuses HRW​

Ziggy Marley performs at IDF Fundraiser​

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Womadelaide artists reflect on music, politics and the fate of the protest song