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Coachella is about many things: music, brand activations, imagined celebrity feuds. But it’s also a huge platform for artists to discuss issues they care about deeply. With Coachella livestreamed both weekends on YouTube, artists have a global platform. And many of them used the moment to show solidarity with the Palestinian people. Acts like Green Day, Blonde Redhead, and Kneecap all expressed pro-Palestine sentiment at Coachella 2025. According to Kneecap, their efforts to get political on the Sonora Stage were censored. “our messaging on the US-backed genocide in Gaza somehow never appeared on screens either,” the band tweeted last Saturday. The band promised to be back and more pro-Palestine than ever for Weekend 2. Vulture has reached out to GoldenVoice for comment.
Twitch streamer Hasan Piker volunteered to help Kneecap get their message out, and broadcast April 18’s show uncensored on his channel. Behind the band, this message ran: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. Fuck Israel. Free Palestine.” Here’s how other acts at Coachella 2025 brought attention to Gaza.
Green Day
Alongside the previously mentioned signage, the audience chanted “Free Palestine” at the band’s April 18 show. “The young people of America don’t support genocide,” the band tweeted the next day.
Amyl and the Sniffers
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Lead singer Amy Taylor extended support and solidarity not just for the people of Palestine, but for the queer and trans community of America, immigrants, and the people of Ukraine.
Clairo f. Bernie Sanders
During his surprise intro for Clairo, Senator Bernie Sanders praised the artist for her activism. “I’m here because Clairo has used her prominence to fight for women’s rights, to try and end the terrible, brutal war in Gaza where thousands of women and children are being killed,” Sanders said.
Blonde Redhead
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Blonde Redhead ended their Saturday show by waving a Palestinian flag and playing audio of Mahmoud Khalil. The Columbia student was taken by ICE and put in a detention camp after leading pro-Palestine protests.
Thee Sacred Souls
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Singer Josh Lane touched on Palestine during the band’s Friday afternoon show. “Love means that if I deserve freedom, so do you. If I deserve the breath in my lungs, so do you,” he said. “So do the Palestinians. So d the Congolese, so do the Sudanese.”
Bob Vylan
Bob Vylan said “Palestinians have always mattered” during his set on the Sonora Stage.
Darkside
Stereogum transcribed the full remarks of Darkside’s Nicolas Jaar, who spoke about Mahmoud Khalil at the end of the band’s Saturday night show.
“Palestine will be free. These lands that we are on right now, here were committed the genocides that are the blueprint for what’s happening in Palestine right now. The same racist logic. We must continue resisting, here from the belly of the beast. Because this genocide is funded by American money, with technology from Silicon Valley, and thanks to the complicity of all the politicians in this country. I also wanna say that today, these days, as some of you may know, just protesting a genocide that is happening means you can get deported, like Mahmoud Khalil. That doesn’t feel right. Mahmoud and many others are in ICE detention jails. These jails are run for profit by groups like — what the fuck is it called — CoreCivic and GEO Group, they make money off keeping people in cells. We need to keep fighting them. For the sake of everyone there stuck without trial and with no hope, we need to give hope.”
