Blonde Redhead end their Coachella set with audio of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and Palestine flag

Blonde Redhead ended their Coachella 2025 set with audio of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and the Palestinian flag.

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The moment took place during their Saturday (April 19) weekend two performance, which saw multiple artists condemning President Donald Trump’s policies and the United States’ involvement in Israel’s genocide against Palestine.

Blonde Redhead waved the Palestinian flag during their performance and, as the set drew to a close, played an audio clip of Khalil speaking about his family’s history and how Zionists forced them to evacuate to a refugee camp. The soundbite comes from The Encampments, a new documentary film about Khalil.

Khalil is a Columbia University graduate student who was born to Palestinian parents in a refugee camp in Syria. He’s now a US green card holder and had a key role in pro-Palestine protests on his university campus.

Last month, he was abducted by ICE agents and taken from his home in New York City to an immigration detention centre in Louisiana, where he’s still being held today. While he hasn’t received any criminal charges, he’s currently facing deportation and revocation of his student visa.

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Kneecap also used their set to speak about the conflict, leading a “free Palestine” chant and making a brief speech.

It came after the Irish group’s performance at the Californian festival last week, where an anti-Margaret Thatcher chant was reportedly cut from their set, as well as their pro-Palestine messaging.

For their weekend two slot on Friday (April 18), they returned with a strong pro-Palestine stance, projecting the slogan, “Fuck Israel, Free Palestine,” behind them on the stage. Leftist social media personality Hasan Piker also stepped in to help broadcast the band’s message, joining them on stage to livestream the set via his Twitch channel.

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