Oi Va Voi, a British-Jewish band from London, was set to perform at Patterns, a venue in Brighton, on May 31.
On social media the band said: “Our show in Brighton at Patterns Brighton tonight has been cancelled by the promoter.
“The cancellation was against our will and not under our control. We will be making a statement about this at a later date.”
The band is currently on a tour promoting their new album and has just returned from sell-out shows at venues in Amsterdam, Budapest and Brussels.
A Bristol venue, Strange Brew, cancelled their gig on May 21 and the venue took to social media to say they had been contacted by campaign groups asking for the performance to be cancelled.
The statement read: “We advised that we would be cancelling the show due to some album artwork from 2024 we had been presented with, which was a solo project of one of the performers in the band.
“We were of the view it could be interpreted as politically offensive, given the ongoing and worsening situation in Gaza, and it had already been interpreted as such by the groups who contacted us.”
The “album artwork” referred to “Welcoming the Golden Age”, a solo album released by Israeli band member Zohara in 2024. The album artwork showed Zohara – nude and painted gold – standing in a field of watermelons with a wheelbarrow.
The watermelon is a symbol of Palestine resistance as its colours – red, white, green and black – mirror those of the Palestinian flag.
Zohara defended herself by saying the image of her gathering fruit in a field conveyed the album’s message of “reconnecting with nature”.
She said she did not know watermelons were a symbol of Palestinian resistance when the photo was taken.
“I found out later, through protests I joined where flags were banned, and watermelons became a symbol of defiance. It felt meaningful. Not a coincidence”, she said.
She said the album blends “Arabic instruments and motifs” reflecting her background, as her father was born in Morocco.
“Since the start of my career I have spoken out openly and fiercely against the occupation, often at a cost to myself”, she said. “What’s happening horrifies me.
“It’s my reality and follows me through everything I do. Boycotting artists over imagined narratives doesn’t serve justice. It silences the very people working to create better futures.”
Neither Patterns Brighton nor Love Thy Neighbour – the event promoter – commented when contacted for comment.
But Love Thy Neighbour released a statement on social media saying: “On Wednesday May 28 we made a statement about the Oi Va Voi gig on Saturday May 31. That statement was misleading.
“Oi Va Voi is a non-political band, we understand they have never used any of their concerts to promote specific political positions and there was no reason for us to believe they would do so. We took the decision to cancel the gig ourselves and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
When contacted for comment, Oi Va Voi said the issue is “with our lawyers so there is a limit to what we can say”.
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