Primal Scream have collaborated on a new shirt design for a Palestinian refugee football team, based on their classic album ‘Screamadelica’.
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Frontman Bobby Gillespie confirmed the news in an Instagram video today (August 8), explaining that the team Lajee Celtic, who are a refugee club based in the Aida Camp in Bethlehem in Palestine’s West Bank.
The shirt has been designed in conjunction with clothing brand A Number Of Names, as well as The Green Brigade, a supporters group for Celtic FC, the club which Gillespie supports.
“The camp has lived under the rule of Israeli military occupation since 1947,” Gillespie says in the video. “Yet despite these abominable conditions, the people of the camp find joyful resistance in the game of football.”
“Football, the universal, democratic sport. All you need is a ball and a couple of coats for goalposts and off you go.”
You can read more about the club and buy the shirt here.
The Scottish band first collaborated with the Lajee Celtic in 2022, unveiling the ‘Palestinadelica’ branding for the first time. Former Manchester United star Eric Cantona joined them in the promotion, posing in the shirt on Instagram.
Countless other music industry figures have been similarly outspoken on the Israel-Gaza conflict.
In May, Paramore called for donations to support Gaza via the organisation Save The Children, while Brian Eno, members of Fontaines D.C., R.E.M and Bastille read out letters from Palestinians suffering in Gaza as part of a ‘Voices For Gaza’ initiative.
Paul Weller has expressed his support for Palestine too, as has Dua Lipa, while FKA Twigs made an appearance at a London fundraising show in support of Gaza and Sudan.
Damon Albarn spoke about the conflict from the stage at Glastonbury this year, while a group of record labels and promoters called for a cultural boycott of Israel through the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).
The conflict has also had a significant impact on this year’s festival season, with over 100 acts dropping out of The Great Escape in solidarity with Palestine and in protest at the festival’s sponsorship by Barclays. Several names withdrew from Latitude for the same reason – although Barclays later withdrew from the event.
Elsewhere, this year’s Eurovision Song Contest was also plagued with controversy and protests over Israel’s inclusion in the competition.
Primal Scream, meanwhile, announced their new album ‘Come Ahead’ last month, their first in eight years. It will be out on November 8, and the lead single is ‘Love Resurrection’.
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