At Regina Spektor's concert in Portland, Maine, over the weekend, a poignant moment of musical harmony was disrupted by a chorus of pro-Palestinian protesters, as voices in the audience rose in unison, shouting "Free Palestine" amidst her performance on Saturday. Spektor, a Jewish singer-songwriter who emigrated from the Soviet Union to New York as a child, found herself at the center of this contentious tug-of-war.
In a fan-captured video, Spektor can be seen addressing a protester who had begun shouting "Free fucking Palestine" from within the crowd at Revolution Hall. "You're just yelling at a Jew," she responded calmly yet firmly. Simultaneously, other attendees supportive of Israel countered with "Am Israel Chai," a Hebrew phrase meaning "The people of Israel live," adding another layer of complexity to the unfolding drama.
Stereogum shared the fan-captured footage on social media, detailing how one protester had actually charged the stage, repeating the "Free Palestine" mantra. "I don't know what he thinks he's doing," Spektor expressed, her gratitude evident towards the security personnel.
Spektor, who has publicly expressed support for Israel in the past, had recently commented on the devastating Nova Music Festival attack of October 7, 2023. She had written, "If you've devalued Jewish life so much that mourning murdered Jewish children at a festival, raped women, and committed the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust has offended you—leave."
Another protester echoed the sentiment, shouting "Free, free Palestine," while yet another attendee interjected, highlighting the humanitarian crisis, stating, "There is a genocide happening. I'm watching children dying; that hurts."
In response, Spektor's voice carried an air of exasperation tinged with sadness. "You can leave the show if you want; this is not an internet comment section. I know you're mistaking my show for a YouTube video," she said. "I think you should go; this is not the place for that conversation. I'm a real person here to play music. If anybody wants to walk out, this is your chance. Does anybody else want to take a walk? You can."
As the video continued, a few more fans could be seen exiting the venue. Spektor's frustration spilled over as she shared a personal anecdote. "The only reason I even speak English is because I came here to escape this shit. I only speak English because I came from a country where people treated Jews as othered, and I'm being othered here, and it sucks. It'd be nice if one of my family's generations didn't have to go to a new country, learn a new language, and just stay put. Have nice lives, you guys," she said poignantly.
This incident at Spektor's concert served as a microcosm of the ongoing tension within the music community regarding the Israel-Gaza conflict. Groups such as Kneecap and Bob Vylan have courted controversy with their pro-Palestine, anti-Israel messaging at music festivals over recent months. Kneecap, an Irish hip-hop group, displayed a message reading "Fuck Israel, Free Palestine" on the screen behind them during their Coachella set. Meanwhile, Bob Vylan, an English punk-rap duo, lost their U.S. visas and were dropped by UTA after inciting a "Death to the IDF" chant at Glastonbury in June.
These actions drew criticism from Jewish advocacy groups, who labeled the messaging antisemitic. Kneecap and Bob Vylan refuted these claims, asserting that their words were directed at the Israeli government, not Jewish people. "We are not for the death of Jews, Arabs, or any other race or group of people," Bob Vylan wrote in an Instagram post addressing the controversy. "We are for the dismantling of a violent military machine."
