Israeli music duo cancels

An Israeli band has cancelled its appearance at a Queensland alternative music festival after a campaign to remove them from the line-up.

Artists Erez Eisen and Amit Duvdevani, who perform as trance-music band Infected Mushroom, were due to appear at EFF in south-eastern Queensland in October. The band issued a statement on Facebook on June 25, explaining it will not be appearing at EFF but will proceed with its Australian tour in other cities.

“For 30 years of our existence, Infected Mushroom have been all about playing music and spreading love, without involving politics in our music or shows. Unfortunately, the Earth Frequency Festival chose to bring politics into a dance festival environment influenced by [a] political agenda and driven by social media vitriol, hate and racial division that ultimately has divided the community and some of our fans. The core values of any music event should not involve politics. It should be a place to celebrate life, friendships and community through music.”

Responding on Facebook, EFF organisers said that after the appearance of the Israeli artists was announced in May, “a viral email campaign began, asking us to boycott and cancel the artist”.

“As an organisation, we cannot simply ignore a section of our audience and hope an issue will go away. People expect more from their cultural platforms in 2025. At the same time, every artist and participant deserves fair treatment and not to be judged or cancelled because of their nationality.”