Spotify removes violent extremist antisemitic content following We Believe in Israel and Board of Deputies campaign

We Believe in Israel and the Board of Deputies of British Jews Have welcomed the removal of the song “Udrub Udrub Tel Abib” (We Will Strike a Blow at Tel Aviv) and other violent extremist antisemitic material from the music streaming platform, Spotify. Other songs removed include “Arabic Katyusha”, and “The Death of Israel”.

This follows a petition to Spotify organised by WBII that attracted nearly 4,000 signatures. The Board of Deputies also made representations to the Secretary of State of Digital Culture, Media and Sport on the matter.

Udrub Udrub Tel Abib directly incites violence against Israelis while using overtly antisemitic language. Its lyrics include:

1. “Strike a blow at Tel Aviv and frighten the Zionists. The more you build it the more we will destroy it.”
2. “We don’t want no truce or solution. All we want is to strike Tel Aviv.”
3. “Oh you settler, with your sidelocks, in your shelter you cower with fear.”
4. “Strike, oh Qassam missile, do not let the Zionists sleep. Even if they beg for mercy – be sure not to show Tel Aviv any mercy.”
5. “Oh Fajr missile, explode in the Knesset and the army base.”

Luke Akehurst, Director of WBII, said: “It’s good news that Spotify have finally listened to public disgust about hosting clearly antisemitic content which contravenes their own content policies, including directly inciting violence against Israelis. Now we need them to look at why they are hosting explicitly antisemitic and conspiratorial songs by Lowkey and Ambassador MC.”

Amanda Bowman, Vice President of the Board of Deputies, said: “We are pleased that Spotify have acted to remove certain material that clearly breached their own rules regarding hateful messaging. We hope that they will continue to apply these rules to works by other artists that similarly contravene their guidelines.”

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