Police crack down on pro-Palestine demonstrators in Milan as they demand annulment of twinning agreement with Tel Aviv

Police crack down on pro-Palestine demonstrators in Milan as they demand annulment of twinning agreement with Tel Aviv

"Clashes erupted in central Milan as thousands of pro-Palestine activists took to the streets after the City Council voted to maintain the twinning with Tel Aviv. Footage shows protesters waving Palestinian flags and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans. Several attempts were made to breach barriers, and police can be seen using force to push the crowd away from the Milan City Council headquarters. More than 60 police officers reportedly sustained various injuries, and around 10 demonstrators were detained. Protests erupted immediately after the motion was defeated by a vote of 21 against the proposal to nine in favour of it, with six councillors from the Democratic Party abstaining. The motion was tabled by the Greens, supported by a faction of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and the electoral list backing PD Mayor Beppe Sala. Similar pro-Palestine rallies have taken place in other Italian cities. In Rome, an estimated 50,000 people participated. The main demand of the protesters is the immediate termination of diplomatic relations between Italy and Israel."

Police crack down on pro-Palestine demonstrators in Milan as they demand annulment of twinning agreement with Tel Aviv

Police crack down on pro-Palestine demonstrators in Milan as they demand annulment of twinning agreement with Tel Aviv

"Clashes erupted in central Milan as thousands of pro-Palestine activists took to the streets after the City Council voted to maintain the twinning with Tel Aviv. Footage shows protesters waving Palestinian flags and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans. Several attempts were made to breach barriers, and police can be seen using force to push the crowd away from the Milan City Council headquarters. More than 60 police officers reportedly sustained various injuries, and around 10 demonstrators were detained. Protests erupted immediately after the motion was defeated by a vote of 21 against the proposal to nine in favour of it, with six councillors from the Democratic Party abstaining. The motion was tabled by the Greens, supported by a faction of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and the electoral list backing PD Mayor Beppe Sala. Similar pro-Palestine rallies have taken place in other Italian cities. In Rome, an estimated 50,000 people participated. The main demand of the protesters is the immediate termination of diplomatic relations between Italy and Israel."

‘We’re ripping ourselves to shreds’: with dance music bitterly divided, how far should cultural boycotts go?

‘We’re ripping ourselves to shreds’: with dance music bitterly divided, how far should cultural boycotts go?

Some artists and audiences are boycotting Boiler Room and other events over its parent company’s links with Israel – creating fierce debate about the best way to protest and how to remain uncompromised Those attending Boiler Room’s two-day festival in London’s Burgess Park in August may have noticed a troubling message spray-painted on the site’s perimeter fence: “Boiler Room is owned by Israeli arms investors.” In nearby Brockwell Park, which hosted Field Day, Cross the Tracks and Mighty Hoopla – three festivals belonging to the same group as Boiler Room – graffiti depicted a bomb with the letters “KKR” emblazoned on it. In June 2024, the controversial private equity giant KKR acquired Superstruct Entertainment, the company that owns these four festivals and tens of others, many of which were the subjects of boycotts by artists this summer. That’s because KKR has considerable business interests in Israel, including investments in Axel Springer SE, a German media company that runs classified ads for housing developments in the illegally occupied West Bank. Ravers for Palestine, an anonymously run Instagram page that has backed dozens of boycotts, characterised KKR in a recent post as “the beating heart of western capitalism where an insatiable lust for profits and power has no moral boundaries”. Continue reading...