When the Zionist massacre of Palestine began, a singular artist would start a global campaign against the annihilation. I am talking about rock'n'roll icon Roger Waters. The British musician’s career had long shown signs of public rejection of such practices, and his strong criticism of the constant aggressions suffered by the Palestinian people was more common. Waters' stance has made him perhaps the most influential figure in music to speak out for the cause.
Like him, other artists from different regions have joined the campaign to end the massacre, but their voices have been overshadowed, or at least minimized, by the mainstream media and industry consortia. In Madrid, names such as the actor Juan Diego Botto, the singer-songwriters Ismael Serrano and Marwan (the latter the son of Palestinian parents), and the band Vetusta Morla, who accompanied students from the Complutense University who camped out on its campus in May as a sign of protest. The result was little press coverage and no media follow-up to the artists' action.
Puerto Rican rapper and composer René Pérez, known as Residente and formerly of Calle 13, recently released the song Bajo los escombros (Under the rubble) with Palestinian singer Amar Murkus, including a video clip. The musician was devastated by the bombings that killed thousands of Palestinian children, and was also very critical of the inertia of some of his colleagues. Low media visibility -although the media did pay more attention to responses to his criticism- was again a constant on the issue of pro-Palestinian activism.
Once again, the same patterns of media invisibility are repeated against musicians who take a stand on genocide, and the questions that no one in power wants to answer return: How is it possible that headlines about celebrity divorces or infidelities saturate the industry's information market? Why the censorship of the Palestinian issue? Why the insistence on trivializing consumerism?
If we draw a parallel between the industry and the trends of thought that are currently induced by the real establishment; for example, the real power, we will notice too many coincidences in terms of standardization and glorification of musical frivolity. They are expressed both in concrete proposals that flood the traditional and digital broadcasting channels, as well as in positions with social and political aims that obviously do not turn the dominant power against its own interests.
It doesn't matter about the careers of Waters, Silvio or any other famous artist whose work is great; what matters, sadly, is whether or not they opposed the hegemonic system that subjugates peoples and turns a blind eye to the massacre. Tenacity in these times comes with a high price, which not everyone has chosen to pay. It is clear that some are more concerned about their pockets than about the children murdered in Palestine.
