Welsh singer Charlotte Church and her Sing for Palestine Choir were criticized by Jewish and pro-Israel groups on Monday for lyrics calling for a “free Palestine” from “the river to the sea.”
Church led the choir garbed in a keffiyeh at the Bedwas Workmen’s Hall on Saturday, in a charity event for Gaza hospitals. The choir sang several songs about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The singer was attacked by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, which said that she was using her celebrity status to teach children to “sing extremist lyrics in a village hall.”
“The genocidal chant ‘From the River to the Sea’ refers to the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea, and only makes sense as a call for the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state – and its replacement with a Palestinian state. It is a call for the annihilation of half the world’s Jews, who live in Israel,” said the CAA.
“Since October 7, when Hamas committed their barbaric terrorist acts, we have heard this chant on the streets of Britain during anti-Israel marches, accompanied by all manner of anti-Jewish racism.”
Church denies allegations of antisemitism
According to The Guardian, Church denied the allegations of antisemitism during an Instagram Live video on Monday.
“Just to clarify my intentions there, I am in no way antisemitic. I am fighting for the liberation of all people. I have a deep heart for all religions and all differences,” Church said, according to The Guardian. “It was a beautiful, beautiful event. But unfortunately, the powers that be can’t have that. [They] can’t have such a powerful symbol of resistance as what we worked towards on Saturday.”