LIVE FROM THE PIT: Punks For Palestine 2026

There's a quote that circulated the room at New Cross Inn on the 4th of May, by one of the organisers: "hardcore exists for shit like this." Not for streetwear. Not for big corporations. For this - an afternoon of music, community, and solidarity that raised over £4,000 for Palestinian relief, packed into one of South East London's most beloved grassroots venues. Punks for Palestine was not an event defined by a rigid definition of being ‘punk’. What followed throughout the day was proof that punk, in its truest sense, is less about how you sound and more about how and why you show up.

UNWITNESSED

UNWITNESSED opened the afternoon with three songs of London hardcore that set the tone immediately, with deep growling vocals paired with real technical singing, and a pit that formed earlier than anyone expected. For a new band, they command the room with ease. Short, purposeful, and surprisingly heavy for the time of day.

MASHAAL

MASHAAL brought with them hardcore through diasporic eyes and experiences. The energy is instant and overwhelming, with songs Aliyah and Alhamdulilah hitting hard with the crowd.  This is what it sounds like when the personal and political are one and the same, showing that politics and identity constantly intersect.

YUNG YUSUF

YUNG YUSUF offers a shift in texture: rap over punk-ish instrumentals, raw and rebellious. Closer Coloniser, a direct response to being told to "go back home", lands with the kind of clarity that only lived experience can produce. The crowd listens hard.

RITUAL ERROR

RITUAL ERROR are the outlier in the best way, as their post-hardcore noise trades moshing for something more unsettling and urgent. One song targeting bands who perform politics as aesthetic without the substance earns a knowing reaction from a crowd that knows when someone is being authentic in their politics.

KEMASTRY

KEMASTRY arrives as the afternoon's elder statesman, opening with a poem before settling into shamanic UK hip-hop wordplay. Performing on a near-broken voice makes it no less commanding - if anything, it shows his strength and dedication to the Palestinian cause.

KILA KOSA

KILA KOSA bring South London hardcore that hits with the force of early BRING ME THE HORIZON, bringing cathartic riffs, vocals, and people doing somersaults in the pit. The "free, free Palestine" chant that closes their set is taken up by the whole room.

SARSOUR

SARSOUR are only on their second-ever live show, and you would never know it. Punk through an Arab lens, rooted in geopolitics and resistance, the Syrian-fronted band pulls three mosh pits and a standing ovation. "This has always been my dream," the singer tells the room. Based on the reception, the room is glad they're here to stay.

SHOOTING DAGGERS

SHOOTING DAGGERS are everything and nothing at once, with London queercore that swings between slow hope and furious moshing, between emo vulnerability and circle pit energy. Their upcoming album Real Life Things, is previewed with three new songs, one of which makes the whole room sit down. The last three songs are dedicated to women and queer people. "Representation is so important on this stage," they say, and the room erupts. A circle pit on the final song brings the day to its most joyful moment yet.

CHINNED

And who could forget CHINNED, the Stevenage Grindcore Mafia, reunited for one night only after six hours total of practice across two years. The pit goes harder here than at any point all afternoon. Their set is brief, chaotic, and phenomenal, the vocals cutting through with real force. "It's truly sick to do this one last time," the frontman says, "then we'll probably do this again in eighteen months." The crowd takes it as the promise it's meant to be.

£4345 raised. Eleven acts. One room, mixed in age, subculture, and background, united by the understanding that art and music have always been political, and that the work of building a better world happens in exactly these kinds of spaces. Punks for Palestine continues to show the importance of unity and community organisation to fight against the imperialist core that has permitted and enabled the subjugation of the Palestinian people for the past 78 years.

Words and photos: Atoosa Salamat