Keep Singing
for Palestine

In March this year, the United States and Israel invaded Iran. From the earliest days of the war, Trump demanded that South Korea send troops. The government, which at first said it was not considering a deployment, has recently shifted to saying it is "reviewing various options with the national interest as the top priority."

A rally against the deployment was accordingly held in Seoul on Saturday 12 September. Taking that as our starting point, we must now organise as many citizens as possible before Chuseok and show sustained momentum against the deployment. With the current government’s approval rating continuing to fall, the cry of the people gathered in the square is both an effective way to stop the deployment and the last line of defence against South Korea becoming a perpetrator in the war of aggression on Iran.

The organising committee of the Gangjeong Peace and Music Camp had planned to hold a peace concert in solidarity with the Palestinian liberation movement on Saturday 19 September at Banjul in Seoul. But the committee judged that this moment calls for more than solidarity through music — it calls for going out into the square and acting together with our fellow citizens. We are therefore changing the plan for the Keep Singing for Palestine concert.

The colonial rule and genocide inflicted on the Palestinian people and the war of aggression against Iran launched by the United States and Israel are by no means separate matters. They are tragedies of the same order and a chain of acts of aggression, in which imperialist militarism tramples the lives and peace of people and justifies violence. To sing for peace in Palestine is to oppose the war of aggression against Iran, and it is firmly tied to stopping the deployment of South Korean troops.

Stopping the deployment is not over. On September 18 the President said at a press conference that "there will be no deployment involving war engagement," but also confirmed that strengthening the Cheonghae unit's role near the Strait of Hormuz is under review, with whether it would be combat or non-combat troops still undecided. Gangjeong Peace and Music Camp will keep taking the power of musical solidarity to the streets, to the square. Join us so that songs for Palestine's liberation can rise together with the cry against the Iran war and against Korean troop deployment.