Welsh musician and actor Charlotte Church, 38, appeared at a “Sing for Palestine” event in South Wales on Saturday and led a choir of about 100 people, which included children, in singing a protest chant calling for the destruction and eradication of Israel.
Video from the event shows Church in a keffiyeh leading the group with a song version of the “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” chant.
Sorry @charlottechurch but I just couldn’t keep a straight face. That was the first time I’d actually seen the footage… Sorry pic.twitter.com/fDVvGAj8jv
— Jake Wallis Simons (@JakeWSimons) February 26, 2024
On Monday, during an Instagram Live, Church said, “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 difference.”
“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.”
According to The Guardian, on Monday evening, Church told Novara Media she “hates the idea that anybody thinks I am at all antisemitic or trying to make things more divisive.”
Adding, “But I stand by everything that we sang on Saturday, it was really beautiful.”
The Campaign Against Antisemitism has called for an investigation by the Charity Commission and spoke with The Daily Mail:
‘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.
‘Since 7th October, 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.
‘Singing ‘From the River to the Sea’ is not standing up for human rights. At best Charlotte Church has been tone deaf, but at worst she is using the voice for which she is so well known to fan the flames of hatred. You cannot stoop lower than using your stardom to teach kids to sing extremist lyrics in a village hall.’
Church rose to fame at an early age releasing her debut album, Voice of an Angel, when she was only 12 years old and made Church the youngest artist in history with a number 1 album on the British classical crossover charts.
