Benedict Cumberbatch, Florence Pugh, and Richard Gere were among the 69 celebrities who raised £1.5m for humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza, in one of the UK’s largest cultural fundraising events for Palestinians to date.
On Wednesday, the 12,500-capacity sold-out Together for Palestine concert at London’s OVO Arena Wembley saw musicians, actors, and activists come together to raise funds to support Palestinian-led organisations responding to the escalating humanitarian crisis in the region.
The event was livestreamed globally and coordinated by musician and activist Brian Eno, with Palestinian artist Malak Mattar serving as artistic director.
Funds from ticket sales, online donations, and merchandise are being distributed via the UK charity Choose Love to aid groups including the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, and Taawon, which runs orphan care and medical programmes in Gaza.
The concert came as Israeli military operations intensified around Gaza City, even as the United Nations and humanitarian agencies continued to warn of mass displacement, famine, and a collapse of medical services in the territory.
Since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following the deadly attack by Hamas on 7 October 2023, over 60,000 people – mostly civilians including women, children and infants – have been killed, according to Gaza health officials.
Meanwhile, much of the infrastructure has been destroyed, as evidenced in shocking new images that emerged this week, showing Gaza’s flattened landscape coated in dust and ash.
A UN official said on 25 July that Palestinians are beginning to resemble “walking corpses”, as Israel continued to pose heavy restrictions on the amount of food and aid permitted to enter the territory following an 11-week total blockade earlier this year.
Performers included Damon Albarn, Bastille, Hot Chip, PinkPantheress, and James Blake, alongside Palestinian musicians such as Nai Barghouti, oud player Adnan Joubran, pianist Faraj Suleiman, and rapper El Far3i, a report in The Guardian stated.
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Speakers and presenters ranged from high-profile actors including Benedict Cumberbatch, Florence Pugh, Nicola Coughlan to documentary filmmaker Louis Theroux and writer Richard Curtis.
UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, received a standing ovation as she addressed the crowd, urging attendees not to lose sight of the suffering in Gaza and the West Bank. “As we gather here tonight celebrating life and hope, many Palestinians are holding their loved ones in makeshift tents, waiting for the next bomb,” she said.
“Silence in the face of such suffering is not neutrality. It is complicity. And empathy should not be this hard, and it should’ve never been this hard,” said Pugh.
Cumberbatch took to the stage to read the poem On this land there are reasons to live by the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, sharing the reading with playwright Amer Hlehel.
Former French footballer and actor Eric Cantona urged FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israel and condemned the double standards that allow it to compete.
“Four days after Russia started a war in Ukraine, FIFA and UEFA banned Russia. We’re now 716 days into what Amnesty International have called a genocide, and yet Israel continue to be allowed to still participate,” he said.
PinkPantheress and Bridgerton star Charithra Chandran spoke together on stage, with the musician saying: “Neutrality or silence shouldn’t be an option. Give Palestine your voice. And when your voice goes hoarse, hang your flags. Wear your keffiyeh. Show them we are here.”
“Yes, yes, at the back of my mind, yes. And then you think about children are dying, who cares about my career?” Chandran told Novara Media, when asked if she worried about backlash.
Palestinian journalist Yara Eid addressed the crowd directly, condemning the deaths of over 270 journalists in Gaza since October 2023, drawing massive applause.
“We have been lied to, manipulated, misled, gaslit,” added Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan. “Shame on those Western journalists who have said not a word about the mass killing of their Palestinian counterparts. Shame on them.”
“As a Western journalist myself, I can tell you all this, the Palestinian journalists, they are the best of us. They are the best of us because they are not just documenting a war, or a genocide, they are documenting their own annihilation, their own starvation. In real time. They have shown the world that you can’t bomb the truth away.”
Performances ranged from intimate acoustic sets to larger ensemble pieces. Portishead contributed a pre-recorded version of their song “Roads”, accompanied by a string quartet, while pianist Faraj Suleiman performed an emotionally charged set, backed by a jazz-prog trio. Neneh Cherry joined Greentea Peng on stage to perform the hit “Seven Seconds,” drawing one of the night’s loudest ovations. Damon Albarn, Paloma Faith, Bastille, and Gorillaz were also among the evening’s headline performers.
A pre-recorded video shown before the concert featured actors Cillian Murphy, Joaquin Phoenix, and Brian Cox, alongside musicians Billie Eilish and Finneas, calling for an immediate ceasefire and urging audiences to pressure their governments.
“We have to tell the truth on behalf of the people of Palestine,” Cox said in the video.
Actor and comedian Steve Coogan said: “It’s important to speak out now, not when this is over. Right now, while it’s happening. Pressurise your government, lend your support to those who are peacefully campaigning. Call for a ceasefire. Stop the killing.”
“It’s been the artist’s role in society to speak out, to risk speaking truth to power,” added American photographer and activist Nan Goldin.
Inside the Wembley arena, Palestinian art and symbolism were integrated into the production. Mattar’s stage designs and curated visual art reflected daily life under siege in Gaza.
“We want to empower people to take action. We owe the people of Palestine our solidarity,” she told AFP.
The event combined traditional sales from tickets, which were priced at £70 each, with online donations and a merchandise campaign designed by artists including Bella Freud, Katherine Hamnett, and Ayham Hassan.
Merchandise included T-shirts, tote bags, and keffiyehs, all available online, and profits are being funnelled directly to Gaza relief efforts.
Ticket sales alone raised an estimated £500,000, with presenter Jameela Jamil announcing at 10pm that the concert had raised a total of £1.5m at that point.
Eno, who had previously struggled to secure venues willing to host Palestine-related events, wrote in an op-ed for The Guardian that attitudes have shifted in the past year.
“I and others have been working for a year to bring the concert to life. Even finding a venue proved challenging: the mere mention of the word Palestine was a near-certain precursor to refusal (I wonder what the reaction would have been had it been called Together for Ukraine?),” he wrote.
“But at some point in the past few months, something changed. Wembley signed a contract, YouTube finally consented to streaming the event, and – most importantly – artists agreed to appear.”
