Since the beginning of the Fringe, a group of performers and supporters has been meeting daily in the meadows to peacefully protest in support of the Palestinian people. I had the pleasure of speaking with Liam Withnail, a comedian who has been involved in these protests throughout the festival.
Tell me about the Fringe Artists For Palestine movement; how did it come about?
There have been a few comics over the last couple of years that have been persistently vocal about what’s happening in Palestine, so we have gravitated towards each other. At Machynlleth Festival in Wales, I took part in Ibo Graham’s DJ Battles. This was just after the band Kneecap were in the news after their Coachella performance, where they were calling out Israel, so we decided to make a statement and play Kneecap as part of the show. I bought a Kneecap balaclava, which I wore on stage, and we made a big set piece. The response was really great, and it felt good to be able to incorporate something into a comedy show.
Ivo and I had been in touch already about that, and then as the Fringe drew nearer, Ivo led the charge in terms of going, well, what is something we can do? And so he set up just a small WhatsApp group with a bunch of comedians that we knew had been very vocal about Palestine. We got chatting and very quickly we decided on a daily meeting during the Fringe, just an hour a day to act as a hub for any other Palestine-based activities over the month – a place where we can meet to show solidarity, be visible, and bang some pots.
We really were unsure how many people were going to come. I think maybe 12 people came to the first one. Since then, it’s been a pretty large group every day getting together in the meadows just to be visible and show solidarity.
And what have you found the general response from the public to be like, has there been a lot of support or any resistance?
I would say zero resistance in public. When we’re there, we generally have people coming and asking us what the organisation is. We’ll often get people clapping as they walk by, or if we’re chanting or singing, people will join in. Sometimes people are walking past and they’ll stop and bang pots with us for five minutes and then walk on. So in real life, it’s been really good.
We post stuff online as well with the Fringe Artists For Palestine Instagram page, and we do collabs with some of our more well-known supporters, like Ivo, for example, or Fern Brady or Kim Blythe. Occasionally, because you’re throwing it out to the world, you might get some negative comments on there, but that is just the internet, isn’t it? It’s almost impossible to put out something with such a big following without getting the occasional negative comments. They really are the minority, though; in general, we’ve had overwhelming support.
And what can people do to support the Fringe Artists For Palestine movement?
They can find us on the Instagram page and give us a follow, but more importantly, they can come and meet with us every day. We are called Fringe Artists For Palestine, but we are not exclusively Fringe artists. Anybody who wants to come along and show support and be a part of it is welcome.
We read an opening statement every day, and a part of the opening statement is that the only requirement for membership is ongoing support for the Palestinian people. So if that is something you care about, then we’d love to see you there; all are welcome. We meet every day at different times, and all of the times are on Instagram.
If you’re not in Edinburgh, if you can’t make it, if you’re working, just sharing the information on Instagram about where and when we are, or telling some friends, or just showing general support online, is another really useful way to help.
Do you feel like you, as a comedian and performer, have a duty to use your platform to speak up for things like this?
Yes, but I would go as far as to say that everybody has a platform. We are all on social media, and we all have friends and colleagues. And so, yes, if you’re someone who works in a 9-to-5 and has a small family life, your platform is much smaller, but I think you still have a platform and you still can inform and educate and change people’s minds.
Because of my job, I have a much larger platform. In my show this year I would say there’s political moments in it. I talk a lot about class and access to arts, but it’s not really anything to do with what’s happening in Gaza. But I wear a small pin badge, just to remind people and to make it clear where I stand on it, and to keep the conversation going. They want us – and by they I mean Israel and their allies – to get bored with this conversation. They want us to get tired of seeing it on the news so that we stop talking about it and so that they can continue with what they’re doing. So anybody with any platform that could help keep that conversation alive is really important. And whether or not they are “political” in their work, that does not mean that they can’t be political in some way outside of their work on social media or in interviews like this.
If people could take away one key message from what Fringe Artists For Palestine are doing, what message do you want that to be?
I think just realising you are not powerless, and you can make a difference just by turning up and being visible.
Is there anything else you would like to discuss?
Yes, I just want to say it’s also very important to speak about Susan Riddle, who is a friend of mine and a very talented comedian who has had to cancel her Fringe show after being arrested and charged with terrorism charges for protesting against the arms factory in Edinburgh. She’s been banned from the city, so she cannot perform her show, and she’s got a curfew of seven o’clock, so she can’t do gigs full stop. This is how they silence and punish people for speaking out about stuff. Susan was a huge inspiration, continues to be a huge inspiration to me and everybody else involved in the Fringe Artists For Palestine group.
More information about the organisation Fringe Artist for Palestine can be found on their Instagram page. If you would like to support Palestinian artists at the Fringe, Liam suggests the Palestinian comedy event, Palestine Stands Up, which is running until 20th August.
Image courtesy of Fringe Artists For Palestine
