A vegan festival aiming to raise money for rescued animals has been cancelled after a complaint was sent to its venue by controversial lobby group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI).
But three bands named by UKLFI in its complaint have hit back against it in comments made to Middle East Eye.
The Great Vegan Gathering was scheduled to take place at Gilwell Park Scout Activity Centre in London from 27 August to 31 August, featuring more than 50 performers.
It describes itself on its website as "a long-weekend celebration of music, food, talks, workshops and community", with all proceeds going to animal sanctuaries.
The centre, owned by the Scout Association, told MEE on Thursday that it has cancelled the festival's hire of the venue.
A spokesperson for the Great Vegan Gathering said: "It is deeply disappointing that our venue booking was withdrawn just weeks before the event after correspondence from anti-Palestinian group UK Lawyers for Israel, which has repeatedly attacked cultural events and organisations.
"We are devastated to announce that the Great Vegan Gathering will not be going ahead this year. We are rescheduling the festival for 2027 at a new venue."
Sources with knowledge of the matter told MEE that UKLFI had sent a letter to the venue saying: "Several acts on the festival’s published line-up have an extensive public record of producing and promoting material which is antisemitic, endorses violence against Israelis and Jews, and is liable to stir up racial hatred in a manner which engages the Public Order Act 1986.
"Our specific concerns relate to HAWXX, Active Slaughter, and Millie Manders and the Shutup.
"We are also concerned that several other acts on the published bill have aligned themselves publicly with anti-Israel campaigning, contributing to a foreseeable risk that the festival as a whole will function as a platform for hostility towards Israelis and Jews."
But speaking to MEE on Thursday, the three bands named by the group have hit back against UKLFI's claims.
"My Jewish grandad escaped persecution in Nazi Germany, but many of his family members were murdered," said JJ Maguire, a singer in the band Active Slaughter, which UKLFI mentioned in its letter.
"It’s with him in mind that I founded a band which, in keeping with punk traditions, refuses far-right politics wherever it rears its head," Maguire continued.
"I was absolutely appalled to learn that UK Lawyers for Israel had mounted an attack on our pro-Palestine free speech.
"What’s tragic is we were playing at a festival hoping to raise funds for animal sanctuaries. Anyone with any sense of decency can see how wrong it is to target an event like that."
One song by Active Slaughter is entitled "It’s Not Anti-Semitic To Hate Fascists".
One of the other bands mentioned by UKLFI, Millie Manders and The Shutup, said in a Facebook post on 30 October 2023: "What Hamas has done is atrocious. What Israel is doing is genocide."
Millie Manders told MEE: "My band and I are proud to support justice for all animals and humans. This includes opposing Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, a position shared by millions of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and atheists – people from every background.
“We will never stop advocating for what’s right, having raised funds for Medecins Sans Frontieres [Doctors Without Borders] and our trans siblings, in addition to hosting animal rights activist and mental health charity representatives at our shows."
The third band mentioned by UKLFI, HAWXX, told MEE: "We stand firmly against attempts to deligitimise solidarity with oppressed Palestinians.
"To equate solidarity with the Palestinian people with anything but the pursuit of justice stokes conflict and disrupts efforts for peace," the band continued.
"It puts the Jewish community at more risk and silences Palestinian voices. This is deeply disturbing. Free, free Palestine."
Asked to explain the claims made in its letter, UKLFI pointed MEE to a statement on Thursday in which it cited a song by HAWXX called "Resistance Is Justified", saying "the slogan, in the context of the Israel-Gaza conflict, was liable to be understood as endorsing violent 'resistance' rather than peaceful political protest."
The song's lyrics, reviewed by MEE, do not explicitly endorse acts of violence.
UKLFI further pointed to "an Active Slaughter song entitled It’s Not Anti-Semitic to Hate Fascists, which accuses Israeli forces of killing 'for fun' and planting knives beside injured Palestinian teenagers."
UKLFI further said "Millie Manders and the Shutup was accused of repeatedly portraying Israel as genocidal, colonialist and fascist."
The spokesperson for the Great Vegan Gathering said: "As a festival, we bring together people of all backgrounds from across the world in celebration of being vegan – a way of life that seeks an end to oppression everywhere.
"Our focus is on the animals and our non-profit event was to donate all proceeds to animal sanctuaries. As opponents of animal suffering, we naturally also stand resolute against violations of human rights, whether in Britain, Sudan, or Palestine – where Israeli bombing has killed untold numbers of humans and animals alike."
MEE asked the Scout Association, which owns the venue, whether the UKLFI letter was the reason why it cancelled the festival's booking.
The Scout Association did not answer that specific question, but told MEE: "A decision has been made to cancel the hire of our venue for The Great Vegan Gathering at Gilwell Park.
"Following the initial confirmation of the booking, we conducted a review into some actions taken by the event organisers. The review concluded that these actions were not consistent with Scout values or our venue hire policies.
"As a result, we have informed the organisers that the event will not proceed at Gilwell Park. We remain committed to ensuring that all activity taking place at our venues reflects our values and supports an inclusive, respectful and welcoming environment for everyone."
Since it was founded in 2011, UKLFI has been at the forefront of efforts to discredit and pressure individuals and organisations that criticise Israeli policies or express solidarity with Palestinians.
UKLFI appears 128 times in the European Legal Support Centre's Britain Index of Repression database, which documents what it describes as the systematic repression of Palestine solidarity activism across Britain.
The centre argued that UKLFI has helped to create of a "chilling environment" in which individuals and organisations withdraw or modify lawful Palestine-related activity due to fears of legal escalation.
In the centre's analysis, UKLFI appears repeatedly as an "initiating" or "escalating" actor against acts of Palestinian solidarity - often through complaint letters, legal threats or public pressure that prompts schools, universities, employers and public bodies to open disciplinary procedures or cancel events.