Police investigate DJ Haram following pro-Palestine comments at Sydney Biennale
The US artist also shared her support for people in Iran, Lebanon, Sudan and Syria during an impassioned speech
New South Wales Police have launched an investigation into comments made by DJ Haram, real name Zubeyda Muzeyyen, during an impassioned speech at the 25th Biennale of Sydney.
During her opening night event at the White Bay Power Station on Friday, March 13, DJ Haram shared her support of those suffering humanitarian crises in Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, Sudan and Syria.
During her speech, she chanted the oft-contentious phrase ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’, and referenced the death toll from ongoing conflict in both Palestine and Lebanon, The Guardian reports.
The New Jersey-raised DJ, producer and vocalist also condemned the Gaza genocide, and told crowds: “It's our duty to protect the planet, and it's our duty to oppose the Zio-Australian-Epstein empire.”
"I refuse to comply with artwashing the genocide," she said (via Resident Advisor), dedicating her set to ‘martyrs’ and pro-Palestine activists. “Until Palestine is free, none of us are free."
Following her comments, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies filed a police complaint, The Sydney Morning Herald reports, claiming that they could breach incitement to racial hatred laws.
According to ABC News, the board’s president, David Ossip, claimed that references to a ‘Zio-Australian-Epstein empire’ was "capable of inciting hatred, serious contempt or severe ridicule towards Jewish Australians”.
"The reference to Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted child abuser, compounds this insinuation by implicitly associating Jewish Australians with criminality and abuse," he said in the police filing.
NSW Police are now reviewing and investigating the comments, and are looking to determine whether “any offences were committed”. Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon noted: “Obviously free speech is something we value in this country."
The 25th anniversary edition of the Biennale, Sydney's international art festival, will take place over three months after kicking off on March 14. The premier of New South Wales has ruled out cutting funding for the festival following comments, though one of the festival's sponsors has since cut ties with the Biennale.
Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on X
