Palestinian band 47SOUL yesterday said that it had been invited to perform at WOMADelaide but the offer had been “rescinded” by organisers.

In an Instagram post, the band said it was told that there were “doubts at being able to present ‘a suitably safe environment’ for the artists and audiences at the festival due to community protests taking place in Australia”.

Formed in Jordan in 2013, 47SOUL has played at WOMADelaide in 2018 and 2016.

WOMADelaide director Ian Scobie told InDaily that there was a standing invite for the band to play next year and that 47SOUL’s invitation to play at this year’s event was “delayed” in November last year amid the political climate surrounding the Israel and Palestine conflict.

Scobie also confirmed that the festival also “delayed” invitations for Israeli acts to perform in 2024, and that there are no Palestinian or Israeli acts on the 2024 lineup. He added that 47SOUL was yet to accept the festival’s invitation to perform next year.

47SOUL was never formally announced for the 2024 WOMADelaide lineup.

“In November, we were looking at a programme – bearing in mind the context of what just happened in October – we thought: wouldn’t it be great to have both a Palestinian and an Israeli artist at the festival, and we reached out to a number of those artists – 47SOUL being one of them,” he said.

“They very quickly said yes, we’ll be there. Then as the weeks progressed and a range of incendiary commentary and protests within the community unfolded in the wake of the October attacks, we felt that the better context to have 47SOUL return… was to have some distance between the current climate.

“So we said we really want to defer this to 2025, and that is what we did with the invitation.”

He said the decision was hard and that “looking at where we were in November, having to make the call when the social divisiveness was so high… we felt it really wasn’t going to present the band in the best environment at WOMADelaide”.

“They’re disappointed, we’re disappointed,” Scobie said.

“We felt that, taking into account for safety for all of our audiences and assets, that we were better to defer the invitation to 2025 and that’s what we did.”

In 47SOUL’s Instagram post, the band said WOMADelaide’s decision “hit us hard” and that “at this critical time, the message of multiculturalism that WOMAD seeks to espouse, and its specific relevance to the events we are witnessing, could not be of greater importance”.

“Sadly, it seems that this message presently stops short of including Palestinians at a time when amplifying Palestinian voices could not be more critical, both for the survival of Palestinian life and culture,” the post reads.

47SOUL’s comments were put to Scobie, who said he had “absolute sympathy for them”.

“As a festival that has presented Palestinian artists and this band in particular in the past, I think our track record speaks for that,” he said.

“We really didn’t want to set off or see… discord happening. We’ve never been in this position before. These times are unprecedented in my experience in terms of presenting the festival.

“We absolutely sympathise with their disappointment and we maintained at the time that we will see them and present them in 2025, and that remains our plan and hope to do that.”

Ultimately, Scobie said he had to make the call in November last year.

“People can accuse me of making the wrong call – history may prove that’s the case – but in the end, my concern has to be the safety of all of the artists and audience at the event, and to ensure that we deliver an event that actually is one that can be delivering the kind of positive messages – as far as one possibly can – and to give the artists the stage to do that,” he said.

“This was never an issue about the artists themselves, it was always about how the audience reaction might be at that time.

“The proximity to the conflict in Gaza in November appeared to me to be in such a position that we were better to defer their presence to the next year.”

It comes as Australian Friends of Palestine Association (AFOPA) urges pro-Palestinian protestors to demonstrate at WOMADelaide twice this weekend against the inclusion of Jamaican musician Ziggy Marley on the bill.

The Association claims the artist supports Israel as Marley attended a 2018 fundraiser for the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).

“In 2018, fans worldwide were shocked by [Marley’s] attendance at a star studded benefit for the Israeli Defence Forces,” AFOPA said on Instagram.

“WOMAD’s values are in stark contrast to the actions of their headline performer.

“If you are attending WOMAD please wear your keffiyeh inside and if you are attending the Ziggy Marley concerts stand and turn your back on Ziggy.”

Asked whether he had concerns for audience safety because of Marley’s inclusion and the planned protests, Scobie said “we’ve been given undertakings by the organisation organising the protests that they will be peaceful”.

“I think the overwhelming majority of our audience do understand and support Ziggy. That perception of him… illustrates the difficulty of the environment that I was referring to before,” Scobie said.

“This is someone who is being accused because he signed a letter – an online letter – in the immediate aftermath of the October 7 attacks supporting Israel, calling for the release of the hostages and calling for peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

“In terms of our decision with 47SOUL, it really is a case of finding the best environment and context within the festival to present the group again – to bring them back – and we felt that the community sensitivity was so heightened at this time it would be better to do this in 2025.”

47SOUL was approached for comment by InDaily.