Primal Scream played a concert celebrating the 25th anniversary of their album XTRMNTR Monday night at Roundhouse in London. Per The Guardian, during their performance of XTRMNTR track “Swastika Eyes,” a video played in which a swastika was displayed inside a Star of David. The image was then superimposed over the eyes of political leaders including Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US president Donald Trump, and UK MP Keir Starmer. The video also included images of the destruction in Gaza. It ended with the message, “Our government is complicit in genocide.”
The intent behind this imagery is not difficult to discern: By affixing a swastika to Israel’s leadership and its supporters, Primal Scream is equating the Israeli regime’s campaign in Gaza with the Holocaust. It’s a connection many have drawn, and it always, without fail, sparks allegations of antisemitism — either because of a wrongheaded belief that any criticism of Israel’s government is automatically antisemitic, or because of bad-faith posturing to that effect. Inevitably, this is how the Primal Scream situation has played out.
As The Daily Mail reported this week, Primal Scream faced pushback on the imagery from some who attended, and the Jewish charity Community Security Trust reported the band to the police. A spokesperson for the organization told The Guardian, “Entwining a Star of David with a swastika implies that Jews are Nazis and risks encouraging hatred of Jews. There needs to be an urgent investigation by the venue and the promoter about how this happened, and we have reported this to the police.”
A rep for the Roundhouse said the venue was “appalled that antisemitic imagery was displayed” and that the band had not alerted their staff in advance. “We deeply regret that these highly offensive images were presented on our stage and unequivocally apologise to anyone who attended the gig, and to the wider Jewish community. The content, which was used entirely without our knowledge, stands against all of our values.”
In a statement posted to Instagram today, Primal Scream defended the imagery in the video. “The film is a piece of art,” the statement begins. “It clearly draws from history to question where current world governments sit in that context. It is meant to provoke debate, not hate. In a free, pluralistic and liberal society freedom of expression is a right which we choose to exercise.” See the band’s post below.
