Who is Juman?
Juman is a proud Palestinian artist creating ambient, soulful music.
Juman was listed to perform at Esoteric festival 2024. Listed along-side Juman was a DJ who has consistently called for the genocide of Palestinian people.
Who is Antinomy?
Antinomy is an Israeli producer and DJ known for his intricate psytrance music.
In Nov 2023 - 46 days into the genocidal siege of Gaza - Antinomy reshared his 2012 sentiment to ‘turn Gaza into a sandbox’. He added “The wonders of the facebook archive, just illustrates how many years we are stuck in a loop and how many years back we are stuck in in-action and avoiding cleansing this awful place that’s called Gaza”.
Esoteric’s stance
Esoteric expressed a dismissive ‘apolitical’ stance towards multiple advocates when they raised concerns that associating with, and toleration of pro-genocidal rhetoric develops a complicity with genocide.
This ‘apolitical’ stance was expressed in a clearly degrading response, that we will unpack.
The public stance
Before we unpack this response, it is important to note that only after Esoteric’s appalling attitude was exposed, did the public awareness build momentum towards pressuring the festival to remove Antinomy.
Esoteric (management) attempted to leave this sensitive issue of genocidal complicity unchecked. However, Juman publicly shared their irresponsible communication and mismanagement of concerns.
The resulting public pressure forced Esoteric to be translucent in their communication with advocates. It forced them to reluctantly remove Antinomy from their line-up.
Esoteric’s responsibility
Esoteric blamed this initial, inadequate response on‘junior staff’. However, to quote Esoteric's Managing Director in his explanation for removing Juman from the line-up, “the complications this has caused is irreversible”.
The same goes for the Esoteric reputation. The complications that the festival has experienced from engaging with a Palestinian artist, is nothing in the face of a genocide.
Our responsibility
To all my beautiful friends attending Esoteric Festival 2024.
Executives have attempted to revoke YOUR ability to learn, engage, and express concerns surrounding political issues, during their festival.
They have attempted to revoke YOUR chance to engage in an open conversation, surrounding diverse perspectives of political, cultural, and lived experiences.
So I encourage you, to engage in and reflect upon conversations, surrounding the political & cultural reality of colonisation in this country & globally.
Free Palestine
References:
-www.instagram.com. (2024). boycott_esoteric. [online]
www.instagram.com. (2024). Juman. [online]