Paramore call for Gaza aid donations: “We do not believe that support for our Palestinian friends and family is anti-Semitism”

Paramore have made a call for donations to support aid to Gaza via their Instagram Stories.

It comes as Israel has intensified its military operations in Rafah. A report from The Associated Press explained that Israel’s recent shelling and airstrike attacks killed at least 37 people between Monday and Tuesday this week (May 27-28). It also shared that more than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed since October.

Rafah was home to thousands of displaced Palestinians from all over the Gaza Strip, and came under both ground and air offensive last Sunday (May 26). NDTV also reported how the attack left several tents on fire, which then swept through the area, killing more people, including children.

Now, Paramore have become the latest to urge their fans to support the humanitarian effort to help those suffering in Gaza.

On Instagram Stories, they wrote: “Back in December, Paramore – along with many of our fans – supported an [organisaiton] called Save The Children, who had people on the ground in Gaza providing humanitarian aid to children with life threatening needs. They still need our support.”

On their website, Save the Children explain that their teams “have been working around the clock” to “get vital supplies to families” in the area.

They continue: “Nearly all children in Gaza are at imminent risk of famine. And after over seven months of siege and bombing, children’s mental health in Gaza is being pushed beyond breaking point.” The charity has asked for donations to their Emergency Fund to “provide children and families affected by the war in Gaza, as well as other disasters across the world, with life-saving essentials like food, water and crucial mental health support.”

Elsewhere on their Stories, Paramore also asked for help to support another charity, Doctors Without Borders, which “provides medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare,” according to the charity’s website.

Doctors Without Borders has “teams are made up of tens of thousands of health professionals, logistic and administrative staff” and their “actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of impartiality, independence and neutrality.”

Paramore said “they will be donating” to the charity and urged their fans too as well.

Their post concluded: “Lastly, we do not believe that support for our Palestinian friends and family equals anti-Seminism. We love our Jewish friends and family and pray for the safe return of the remaining hostages. That being said, we simply cannot support a genocide.

“We stand in solidarity with those calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.”

It comes as other artists are urging support for the continuing crisis in Gaza. Earlier today, Dua Lipa shared her support for #AllEyesOnRafah, advocating for an end to the assault on Palestine. 

The pop star expressed her support for Palestine in a new update on Instagram, making a nod to the viral image spearheaded by activists and humanitarian groups. The AI-generated image shows tents at a camp arranged to read ‘All Eyes On Rafah’ – and comes in a bid to gather support for those forced to live in cramped refugee camps in the southern city of the Gaza Strip with no humanitarian aid.

The slogan also gathered momentum in light of Israel’s intensified military operations in Rafah over the last several days.

‘All Eyes On Rafah’ has since been adopted by groups like Save The Children, Oxfam, Americans For Justice In Palestine Action, Jewish Voice For Peace and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. It has also gone viral on social media, and has been shared over 29million times on Instagram in less than one day.

“Burning children alive can never be justified,” Dua Lipa wrote on her Instagram Stories. “The whole world is mobilising to stop the Israeli genocide. Please show your solidarity with Gaza. #AllEyesOnRafah.”

The singer joined the likes of Michael Stipe and Cate Blanchett in signing an open letter to US President Joe Biden calling for a ceasefire last year, and urged for there to be “an end to the bombing of Gaza and the safe release of hostages”.

Lipa also shared her stance in an interview with Rolling Stone earlier this year, in the run-up to her latest album ‘Radical Optimism’, and once again called for world leaders to “take a stand”.

“My existence is kind of political, the fact that I lived in London because my parents left from the war… I feel for people who have to leave their home,” she said.

“From my experience of being in Kosovo and understanding what war does, no one really wants to leave their home. They do it for protection, to save their family, to look after the people around them, that kind of thing, for a better life. So I feel close to it.

“I feel so bad for every Israeli life lost and what happened on Oct. 7. At the moment, what we have to look at is how many lives have been lost in Gaza, and the innocent civilians, and the lives that are just being lost. There are just not enough world leaders that are taking a stand and speaking up about the humanitarian crisis that’s happening, the humanitarian cease-fire that has to happen.”

Others who have shared the ‘All Eyes On Rafah’ graphic on social media include Pedro Pascal, Bella Hadid, Susan Sarandon and former Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock.

The response from Lipa comes just weeks ahead of her planned appearance at Glastonbury, where she will headline alongside Coldplay and SZA. Other performers include Shania Twain, LCD Soundsystem, Little Simz and The National.

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