Sama’ Abdulhadi pulls out of ADE over ex-IDF bookings
The DJ was due to speak on a panel about music and resistance. She says other artists on the festival’s program have served in the Israeli military.
Sama’ Abdulhadi has withdrawn from Amsterdam Dance Event. In an Instagram statement on October 20, the day before the festival began, the DJ said she had “decided not to participate”, citing the booking of “several” artists who have previously served in the Israeli Defence Force, Mixmag reported.
She had been invited to speak on a panel about “music and resistance”. “It would be disingenuous for me to talk about resistance while, within the same festival’s framework, a large number of Israeli artists continue to perform internationally as though nothing is happening,” she explained.
Abdulhadi said she is not calling for the exclusion of artists “simply because they are Israeli”, but claimed that some of the acts booked for the festival “have served in the Israeli military”. “Some have publicly expressed support for Israel and its military,” she continued. “Others have remained silent. To platform such artists is to normalise the Israeli state and its crimes.”
“Silence isn’t proof of agreement, but it is complicity and isn’t without its consequences,” the statement reads.
She also called on festivals, promoters and cultural institutions to “make choices about who they platform, whose voices they amplify and what they are willing to associate their names with.”
ADE runs through Sunday, October 25. The festival has not yet responded to her claims or comments.
