Blonde Redhead end their Coachella set with audio of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and Palestine flag

Blonde Redhead ended their Coachella 2025 set with audio of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and the Palestinian flag.

• READ MORE: Blonde Redhead – ‘Barragán’

The moment took place during their Saturday (April 19) weekend two performance, which saw multiple artists condemning President Donald Trump’s policies and the United States’ involvement in Israel’s genocide against Palestine.

Blonde Redhead waved the Palestinian flag during their performance and, as the set drew to a close, played an audio clip of Khalil speaking about his family’s history and how Zionists forced them to evacuate to a refugee camp. The soundbite comes from The Encampments, a new documentary film about Khalil.

Khalil is a Columbia University graduate student who was born to Palestinian parents in a refugee camp in Syria. He’s now a US green card holder and had a key role in pro-Palestine protests on his university campus.

Last month, he was abducted by ICE agents and taken from his home in New York City to an immigration detention centre in Louisiana, where he’s still being held today. While he hasn’t received any criminal charges, he’s currently facing deportation and revocation of his student visa.

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Kneecap also used their set to speak about the conflict, leading a “free Palestine” chant and making a brief speech.

It came after the Irish group’s performance at the Californian festival last week, where an anti-Margaret Thatcher chant was reportedly cut from their set, as well as their pro-Palestine messaging.

For their weekend two slot on Friday (April 18), they returned with a strong pro-Palestine stance, projecting the slogan, “Fuck Israel, Free Palestine,” behind them on the stage. Leftist social media personality Hasan Piker also stepped in to help broadcast the band’s message, joining them on stage to livestream the set via his Twitch channel.

Some uncensored messaging to Coachella pic.twitter.com/WbHZBrCZl5

— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) April 19, 2025

Other messaging that appeared during their performance included: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” and, “It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes.”

During their set, Mo Chara delivered a brief speech, telling the crowd: “The Irish not so long ago were persecuted at the hands of the Brits, but we were never bombed from the fucking skies with nowhere to go.

“The Palestinians have nowhere to go, it’s their fucking home and they’re bombing them from the skies,” he added. “If you’re not calling it a genocide what the fuck are you calling it?” The band then led a “Free, Free Palestine” chant.

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In other Coachella weekend two news, A.G. Cook brought out Kesha as a guest for ‘Yippee Ki Yay’, Lady Gaga suffered technical issues, but used the mishap to joke with fans about singing live, and Ty Dolla $ign‘s brother, Big TC, joined his set via a video from prison.

Green Day‘s Billie Joe Armstrong also came out in a ‘Brat’ hat during their headline slot, and drummer Tré Cool sported an “Actual Headliner” sash, seemingly squashing rumours of tensions between them and Charli after their fans warred on social media.

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