Art or Ammunition? The Dangerous Weaponization of Culture in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

On Oct. 7, 2023, thousands of music lovers gathered in the south of Israel to dance, to celebrate, to feel free. The Nova Festival was meant to be a euphoric celebration of music and life. But that night, joy turned to terror. In a meticulously planned massacre, Hamas terrorists descended upon the crowd, murdering 378 civilians and kidnapping 44 others. Within seconds, a rave became a grave.

Fast forward to April 19, 2025. Nearly 8,000 miles away, festival goers at Coachella were dancing under the same sky their Israeli counterparts did months earlier. But instead of celebrating music’s power to connect, Irish band Kneecap projected anti-Israel messages above the stage. Other performers such as Green Day followed suit, co-opting their platforms to broadcast political hate. It was a jarring juxtaposition: two festivals meant to celebrate music and humanity, both violently hijacked in different ways.

Culture, once our universal language and long considered a bridge between peoples, has become, in too many cases, a bully pulpit. What was once a conduit for exchange is now increasingly weaponized to divide. Music, art, and performance — once used to transcend borders — now, at the whim of ill-informed artists, reinforces them.

As a former cultural attaché for the State of Israel, I can confirm these protests masked as artistic activism are not unique — they are part of a longstanding pattern. For years, I witnessed the quiet, persistent efforts to exclude Israeli voices from the global stage. I watched institutions grapple with whether to host Israeli performers or screen Israeli films, fearful of backlash. The BDS movement has sought for decades to isolate Israeli artists; and even before the State of Israel was born, economic boycotts of “Zionist goods” were championed by the Arab League.

Artists from around the world have refused to perform in Israel, not because of personal convictions necessarily, but because of pressure — because it’s safer to conform than to be curious. Because if they came, they might discover that Israel is not the apartheid state it’s accused of being. They might meet Arab Israelis in the audience, Druze musicians on stage, or Palestinians working behind the scenes. And that truth would threaten a powerful narrative.

Today, Israel faces petitions calling for its removal from cultural events like Eurovision. These efforts purport to be political statements, but in practice, they corrode the very function of culture itself: to foster connection, not exclusion.

Let’s be honest: No other country with a questionable human rights record is treated this way. Not China. Not Russia. Not Iran. Only Israel. When Jews are uniquely targeted for exclusion, we know from history what we’re witnessing.

We also know from history what happens when culture is misappropriated. In Nazi Germany, propaganda art dehumanized entire populations. Today, the silencing of Israeli artists and the open glorification of Hamas by fringe performers are part of a dangerous cultural regression.

History offers us a better way. In the 1970s, American table tennis players visited China in what became known as “ping-pong diplomacy.” That cultural exchange helped thaw decades of Cold War hostility. Imagine what could happen if we invested in that kind of dialogue today.

This year, in a poetic moment of resistance, Yuval Raphael — a survivor of the Nova Festival — will take the stage and represent Israel at the 2025 Eurovision competition. It is an act of defiance, of resilience, and most of all, of dignity. Art, at its highest form, must heal. Must tell the truth. Must connect. Art should not be a battleground. It should be common ground — and Yuval is paving the way.

This year, in a poetic moment of resistance, Yuval Raphael — a survivor of the Nova Festival — will take the stage and represent Israel at the 2025 Eurovision competition. It is an act of defiance, of resilience, and most of all, of dignity.

When artists choose to wield their influence responsibly— when they use their platform not to incite, but to illuminate — that’s when culture becomes revolutionary. That’s when it becomes peace-building. That’s when it becomes powerful.

The world doesn’t need another angry chant or another projection of hate on a concert stage. The world needs more voices calling for bridges. The artists, like Yuval Raphael, who will be brave enough to create in pursuit of connection, will not only shape culture with their moral courage, they will shape the course of history. 

Margaux Chetrit is a writer, public speaker and entrepreneur.  She is a former parliamentary intern in Israel’s Knesset.  From 2008-2015, she served as director of cultural affairs at the Consulate General of Israel in Montreal.