A Philadelphia-based DJ facing police investigation over allegedly antisemitic remarks at a Sydney art festival remains scheduled for British performances this month despite Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s decision blocking Kanye West’s UK entry over similar concerns.
DJ Haram—real name Zubeyda Muzeyyen—will perform at London’s Phonox venue and May’s Supersonic Festival, sparking fury following the Wireless Festival controversy that saw the entire event cancelled after authorities revoked West’s visa for his antisemitic conduct including releasing a song titled “Heil Hitler” and wearing swastika merchandise.
The contrasting treatment has prompted questions about consistency in addressing antisemitism within the entertainment industry, with Muzeyyen’s scheduled appearances proceeding despite New South Wales police investigations into her 13 March Sydney Biennale speech.
The DJ sparked outrage after criticising civilian deaths in Gaza before declaring: “It is our duty to oppose the vile Zio-Australian-Epstein empire,” whilst dedicating her performance to pro-Palestinian activists and stating “long live the resistance” and “glory to all our martyrs.”
The New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies reported her comments to police on 17 March, with president David Ossip condemning the remarks as “pure antisemitism” and questioning how the government-funded festival “became a platform for such hate.”
Their police letter alleged Muzeyyen’s language could incite hatred and advocate terrorism, noting “martyrdom” and “resistance” terminology frequently appears in Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah propaganda from organisations listed as terrorist entities under Australian law.
The group explained “Zio” constitutes a derogatory term for Zionists commonly used as pejorative reference to Jewish people supporting Israel’s existence, whilst the Epstein reference—linking to the convicted child abuser—promotes “a conspiratorial narrative suggesting malign influence by Jewish Australians.”
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns characterised the remarks as “horrid rhetoric” proving “distressing” following December’s Bondi beach attack, though he declined cutting the Biennale’s funding despite the controversy. The festival received nearly $3.2 million from government in 2024.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin dismissed Muzeyyen as “a DJ no one has ever heard of” whose music was drowned out by “slogans,” questioning why the Biennale platforms “such lame antics” whilst donors and sponsors desert underfunded cultural institutions.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer insisted West “should never have been invited to headline Wireless,” declaring he “stands firmly with the Jewish community” against antisemitism following Ms Mahmood’s determination the rapper’s presence would “not be conducive to the public good.”
