“What side you standing on?” sang Julian Casablancas, frontman of The Strokes, against the backdrop of the moment that al-Israa University, the last standing university in Gaza, was destroyed by Israeli forces in 2024 after they had been using it as a military base.
The scene showing the detonation of the 315 mines which destroyed the university, filling the three screens behind the band with images of the billowing smoke, received 5.1 million views on X on Sunday evening following their performance at the Coachella music festival in California.
The original video has since been removed, but copies of the clip have continued to circulate through social media.
The repeated chorus of “what side are you standing on?” from the band’s 2016 song Oblivius adds to the impact as Casablancas’ words ring out over images of political figures across the world whose overthrow or deaths have either been confirmed or speculated to be tied to US intervention, starting with Mohammed Mossadeq, Iran’s first democratically elected prime minister who was ousted in a coup orchestrated by the CIA and MI6 in 1953.
In between each chorus, the backdrop returns to a colourful outline of a mosque.
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Displaying images of Martin Luther King Jr, the genocide of the Native Americans in North America, the enslavement of Africans, and the Black Lives Matter protests, the band shared a clear condemnation of the US’s history of colonialism and foreign intervenition, as well as its ongoing war on Iran and support for Israel during its genocide in Gaza, with the tens of thousands of fans in the crowd. Over 72,000 people have been killed in the Palestinian enclave since October 2023.
As they reach the song’s bridge, the message was underscored by the lyrics: “They wait so long… You never wait for some/Other generation,” seemingly a wake-up call to the typically younger crowds at the festival, which was soon followed by the swell of the final chorus accompanied by photos of various South American and African leaders alongside descriptions and dates of their ousting or death.
“Notice how the Strokes waited until the 2nd weekend of Coachella to show the war crimes of the United States and Israel. They knew if they showed this the first weekend they wouldn’t be allowed back,” speculated one user on X.
Social media users emphasised the significance of such explicit political messaging during one of America’s largest festivals, which is famed not only for its attendance capacity reaching up to 125,000 people per day, but its popularity on social media, particularly among influencers.
Some commended the “courage” it took, adding that their performance went further than other artists. One user wrote: “can’t believe how refreshing it is to see a band or a musician actually using their political leaning songs to address something crucial in front of a huge audience”.
Translation: If The Strokes, who grew up with all the privileges, protest against right-wing policies, why does the average person still support the far-right and repressive stances of the governments in power? For the record, I’m not a fan of The Strokes, but they sure knew how to use their platform well.
Some referenced the importance of the performance at a time where pro-Palestine commentary has become increasingly restricted.
Translation: At America’s most famous festival where pro-Israelis took the stage as the main act, they didn’t just talk about the universities bombed in both Gaza and Iran, but also showed one by one the foreign state leaders killed in CIA-orchestrated assassinations – they are hands down the balliest group on earth right now
However, one critic wrote that, “It would take more courage if they actually donated their money from Coachella to causes they are profiting from (they knew it would go viral on social media).”
Others highlighted previous pro-Palestinian artists using their time at Coachella to speak out for Palestinian rights, saying that it is the responsibility of artists to use their platforms to do so.
Last year, the Irish rap group Kneecap projected screens of text reading: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people” and “it is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes,” as well as “fuck Israel. Free Palestine.”
While The Strokes’ social media has mostly remained focused on their music, aside from the occasional post endorsing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the band is known to have taken political stances publicly in the past, notably in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in 2020 and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests.
Casablancas made headlines in 2021 for signing a letter alongside 600 artists calling for musicians and performers to avoid playing concerts in Israel, supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
The letter denounced “Israeli war crimes” during its 2021 bombing campaign in Gaza, calling for “solidarity with the Palestinian people” and an end to the “ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population”.
Middle East Eye reached out to The Strokes for comment, but received no response by the time of publication.