'IMAGINE GOING TO A MUSIC FESTIVAL AND NOT COMING HOME'

Nova massacre echoes at Coachella, sparks social media firestorm

A highway billboard leading to the prestigious Coachella festival, renowned for attracting A-list performers to America's premier music and arts event, read "Imagine going to a music festival and not coming home."

 

by Doron Friedman 

 

Israel Hayom

Apr 14, 2025

 

 

Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day performs during the first weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Saturday, April 12, 2025, in Indio, California. Armstrong took a definitive pro-Palestinian stance during the performance when he sang, "Runnin' away from pain like the kids from Palestine,"

"Imagine going to a music festival and not coming home." This chilling message, clearly referencing the Nova festival massacre, appears on a billboard along the road leading to the Coachella festival held this past weekend in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert, California. The second half of the festival will take place next weekend.

Behind the billboard stands JewBelong – a pro-Jewish advocacy organization fighting antisemitism through unconventional methods, often employing creative and humorous approaches on social media and in physical spaces.

The organization's Facebook post revealing the billboard has sparked particularly lively discussions over the past two days, garnering tens of thousands of comments and shares as of today. A significant portion of the responses are supportive, with comments such as "Awesome - a great learning lesson for all who mistakenly think Hamas & Palestine are a good thing to support" and "My daughter is there and a Jewish guy gave her a bracelet that said, Am Yisrael Chai. She cried after receiving it."

 

 

Billboards now up around Coachella music festival

 

However, many comments have emerged as pro-Palestinian propaganda "justifying" the Nova massacre, with messages like "Imagine someone bulldozes your house and you can never go home"; "Imagine going to buy a loaf of bread and being bombed"; and "Is Coachella held right outside a concentration camp like Nova was?" Additionally, numerous other comments call for the release of the hostages, with messages such as "I was hoping for Passover they will Let my people go, but still nothing."

Coachella stands as one of the largest and most prestigious music and art festivals in the US, attracting top-tier stars every year. Among the artists who performed and will perform on the desert stages of the current festival are Travis Scott, Lady Gaga, Missy Elliott, Charli XCX and Post Malone, as well as the band Green Day, which in a controversial move on Saturday changed the lyrics of one of their hits, "Jesus of Suburbia," to deliver a pro-Palestinian message.

The vocalist Billy Joe Armstrong took a definitive stance during the performance when he sang, "Runnin' away from pain like the kids from Palestine," instantly alienating countless Israeli fans.