"Freedom for Palestine" is a song by OneWorld. OneWorld is a collective of musicians, artists, campaign groups and charities working together to "raise awareness of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the resulting poverty and other human rights abuses." The song, released on 3 July 2011, is a compilation number, similar to "Free Nelson Mandela

Free Nelson Mandela

"Nelson Mandela" is a song written by Jerry Dammers and performed by his Coventry-based band The Special A.K.A. - with lead vocal by Stan Campbell - released on the single Nelson Mandela / Break Down The Door in 1984 as a protest against the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela...

" or "Feed the World". Its lyrics mention "catastrophes, refugees, crimes against humanity, prison camps, occupation, human rights and justice."

Artists on the video include Maxi Jazz

Maxi Jazz

Maxwell Alexander Fraser , better known as Maxi Jazz, is an English rapper. He is best known as the lead vocalist of British band Faithless.- Biography :...

 (Faithless

Faithless

Faithless were a British electronica band consisting of Maxi Jazz, Sister Bliss and Rollo. The group is best known for their dance songs . Faithless recorded six albums. During their career they sold over 15 million records worldwide...

), Dave Randall (Slovo/Faithless), LSK

LSK

LSK is an English singer, songwriter and record producer based in Leeds who uses a mix of reggae, punk rock and Hip Hop. He originated the style that has been compared to The Streets, which is mentioned in a song on his second album Outlaw...

, the Durban Gospel Choir, members of the London Community Gospel Choir

London Community Gospel Choir

The London Community Gospel Choir is a successful gospel choir located in the United Kingdom.-History:The London Community Gospel Choir was founded in 1982 by the Reverend Bazil Meade with the assistance of Lawrence Johnson, Delroy Powell and John Francis.Initially the idea was for a single concert...

, Jamie Catto

Jamie Catto

Jamie Catto is a former and founding member of Faithless. He was the ballad singer/songwriter, and became Art Director and Video Director of the band before leaving in 1999 to form the double-Grammy nominated, global music and film project 1 Giant Leap. His last album with Faithless was Sunday 8PM...

 (1 Giant Leap

1 Giant Leap

1 Giant Leap is a concept band and media project consisting of the two principal artists, Jamie Catto and Duncan Bridgeman.-Information:...

) and musicians from around the world. Proceeds
from the song go to the charity War on Want

War on Want

War on Want is an anti-poverty charity based in London, England. It seeks to highlight the needs of poverty-stricken areas around the world and lobbies governments and international agencies to tackle problems as well as raising public awareness of the concerns of developing nations while...

 for projects in Palestine.

The song went in at number 10 in the UK indie charts and entered the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 on 10 July 2011 at number 79.

Background

According to the project website: "Palestine is in crisis. Today Palestinians face daily human rights abuse and live in crushing poverty in refugee camps and under Israeli Occupation. In response to this injustice, a group of international musicians are releasing the song Freedom for Palestine by OneWorld."

According to the song's official website, it is supported by War on Want

War on Want

War on Want is an anti-poverty charity based in London, England. It seeks to highlight the needs of poverty-stricken areas around the world and lobbies governments and international agencies to tackle problems as well as raising public awareness of the concerns of developing nations while...

, A.M.Qattan Foundation, Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Palestine Solidarity Campaign

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign is a campaign in the United Kingdom promoting solidarity with the Palestinian people. It was founded in 1982 during the build-up to Israel's invasion of Lebanon.The campaign states:...

, Jews for Justice for Palestinians

Jews for Justice for Palestinians

Jews for Justice for Palestinians is a pressure group based in the United Kingdom that advocates human and civil rights, and economic and political freedom, for the Palestinian people...

, A Just Peace for Palestine, Friends of al-Aqsa, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions UK

Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions is an Israeli peace and human rights organization dedicated to ending the occupation of the Palestinian territories and achieving a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians...

, Stop the War Coalition

Stop the War Coalition

The Stop the War Coalition is a United Kingdom group set up on 21 September 2001 that campaigns against what it believes are unjust wars....

 and Trust Greenbelt

Greenbelt festival

Greenbelt Festival is a festival of arts, faith and justice held annually in England since 1974. Greenbelt has grown from a Christian music festival with an audience of 1,500 young Christians to its current more secular festival attended by around 20,000 - Christians and non-Christians.The festival...

.

Reception

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Desmond Tutu

Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...

, musician Roger Waters

Roger Waters

George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...

, Bristol based trip hop duo Massive Attack

Massive Attack

Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...

, British actress Julie Christie

Julie Christie

Julie Frances Christie is a British actress. Born in British India to English parents, at the age of six Christie moved to England, where she attended boarding school....

, UK Hip-hop artist Lowkey

Lowkey

Kareem Dennis is a musician and political activist of English and Iraqi descent, better known by his stage name Lowkey. He first became known through a series of mixtapes he released before he was 18, before taking a hiatus from the music business...

, singer-songwriter Sami Yusuf

Sami Yusuf

Sami Yusuf is a British singer-songwriter, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist musician of Azeri origin.In 2003 Yusuf released his first album "Al-Mu`allim" at the age of 23, selling over two million copies...

, musician and activist Billy Bragg

Billy Bragg

Stephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...

, film director Ken Loach

Ken Loach

Kenneth "Ken" Loach is a Palme D'Or winning English film and television director.He is known for his naturalistic, social realist directing style and for his socialist beliefs, which are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as homelessness , labour rights and child abuse at the...

, writer and dub poet Benjamin Zephaniah

Benjamin Zephaniah

Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah is an English writer and dub poet. He is a well-known figure in contemporary English literature, and was included in The Times list of Britain's top 50 post-war writers in 2008....

, comedian Mark Thomas

Mark Thomas

Mark Clifford Thomas is a left-wing English comedian, presenter, political activist and reporter from south London. He first became known as a guest comic on the BBC Radio 1 comedy show The Mary Whitehouse Experience in the late 1980s. He is best known for political stunts on his show, The Mark...

, and award winning author and civil rights activist Alice Walker

Alice Walker

Alice Malsenior Walker is an American author, poet, and activist. She has written both fiction and essays about race and gender...

 all endorsed the song. UK natural cosmetics manufacturer and retailer Lush also publicly supported the song.

An Early Day Motion

Early day motion

An Early Day Motion , in the Westminster system, is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by Members of Parliament for debate "on an early day" . Controversial EDMs are not signed by Government Ministers, PPS or the Speaker of the House of Commons and very few are debated on the floor...

 was proposed in the British Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 by Liberal Democrat MP Bob Russell, seconded by Peter Bottomley

Peter Bottomley

Sir Peter James Bottomley is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Worthing West...

, commending Tutu for his promotion of the song, and calling on the "Government to join forces with governments around the world to put pressure on Israel to honour UN resolutions." In the United States, Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck

Glenn Edward Lee Beck is an American conservative radio host, vlogger, author, entrepreneur, political commentator and former television host. He hosts the Glenn Beck Program, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks...

 was critical, calling it "evil" and "pure propaganda" on his Fox News television show.

Coldplay

On 1 June 2011, UK rock band Coldplay

Coldplay

Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...

 posted on their Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

page "Some of our friends are involved in OneWorld's new 'Freedom for Palestine' single" with a link to the website and the video clip, causing controversy. Over 6,000 Facebook users quickly used the "Like" feature, and the posting soon received 12,000 comments. Coldplay's link to the video drew attention from many fans, both agreeing and disagreeing with the message of the song. On 6 June reports indicated that Coldplay had removed the link to the song from their Facebook wall with no explanation. According to Frank Barat of OneWorld, the link was not removed by Coldplay, but by Facebook after "thousands of people (and computer generated posts) reported it as abusive."