The situation in Gaza is abhorrent and unacceptable. Despite the complexity of the myriad of issues involved, a resolution to the problems would be remarkably simple but as we all know, a small number of powerful people and powerful interests seek to obfuscate the matter, purely for selfish interests, to the detriment of the whole middle east and the rest of the world.
The fact that a specific ethnic group in Gaza and the occupied territories suffer more than anyone is the most unfortunate and deplorable outcome. And their situation appears to only be getting worse. From the Israeli and US administration through to the Palestinians' own representatives, the real victims are being ignored.
Regular people have started to take action where government and representatives have failed to do so for decades. The Gaza Freedom Flotilla aims to provide much needed aid and supplies to the people of gaza as well as to bring attention to the conditions resulting from the Israeli blockade. You can read more about Gaza and the aims of the Free Gaza Movement and Flotilla here.
You can help out by coming to a party I'm involved with to raise funds for the next Gaza Freedom Flotilla. It's a great lineup of local DJs who have all donated their time and talents as well as generous others who have donated the sound system and other equipment. It's only $10 and all proceeds go to the cause.
DJs on the day will be: Edseven, Jonny Faith, Western Synthetics, Prize, Victim, Shantan Wantan Ichiban, Sofie Loizou http://www.sofieloizou.com/, BC SWAT.
Here's a very small sample of DJ mixes, tracks and links to give you an idea of what to expect:
Jonny Faith recently released an EP getting lots of airplay and DJ love all over the world. His Blue Sky On Mars EP is available on iTunes, Boomkat and whole bunch of other places. You can also download his recently aired mix for Ninja Tune's Solid Steel radio show.
Solid Steel Radio Show 25/2/2011 Part 3 + 4 - Jonny Faith by Ninja TuneEdseven is one of Sydney's most reliable DJs, always bringing out something new and mixing up all sorts of different sounds from the past present and future. His list of international support slots and history of residencies is very long. Check out his most recent mix:
edseven - yellow mixtape by edseven
Western Synthetics (aka Rhyece O'Neill) has been mentioned on this blog before and was kind enough to take some time to put down his thoughts on Gaza and help plug the party through the Sub Continental Dub newsletter and blog which you can read here. You can buy the the Western Synthetics album May Day Radio here.
Sofie Loizou has been a mainstay on Sydney's electronic music scene and is always ahead of the curve from her production to great DJ sets. Check out her most recent mix below and follow her Twitter for lots of interesting political and musical tidbits.
Sofie Flicks the Switch DJ Mixtape 2 - Feb 2011 by sofieAs the flyer says, the party happens this Sunday 13th March at the Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale from 2-10pm. Facebook event page here.