Portuguese festival: 'Zionism has no place on a dancefloor'

• Published date: 14 March 2024
• Author: MICHAEL STARR
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

In The Last Sky, the essay by Waking Life organizer Ivan March, the self-styled "Grooveologist" argued for allowing people with divergent and clashing views to take part in festivals and other events but singled out Zionism as monstrous

"I don't think that Zionism has a place on a dancefloor. Neither does nationalism, neither does homophobia, neither does racism or sexism or any other form of racial, gendered, cultural superiority – but we still carry our traumas around with us, so there are no guarantees when it comes to dancefloor politics," said March. "I grew up with both blood family and strangers on dancefloors deeming me, and others like me, monsters.

But it turns out that many people like coming to monsters' balls, and we simply need to build spaces that will attract those who find belonging there. What we need to do is build structures of care, we need to speak to one another, dance closely with one another, channel radical receptivity side-by-side with radical honesty. We need to cultivate compassionate cultures and find a way to tend to our collective wounds while keeping tenderness with the troubled boundaries."

March bemoaned the destruction in Gaza and the violence around the world that was being given media attention, as well as the conflicts being ignored. He praised Israeli Queerhana for its "anarchy and peace" message but said that its legacy was "a distant echo" and "what is needed the most right now, alongside cessation...