Massive Attack - Activism and Politics

Activism and Politics

Del Naja has been critical about government policy. He was strongly opposed to the 2003 war against Iraq, and with fellow musician Damon Albarn personally paid for full page adverts in the NME magazine.

In 2005 Del Naja organised and performed at a charity concert in Bristol for Tsunami Relief with Adrian Utley and Geoff Barrow of Portishead. The two-night event featured Massive Attack, Portishead, Robert Plant, The Coral and Damon Albarn. Del Naja and Marshall performed three shows in 2005 in support of Hoping, an organisation that helps raise money, support projects for Palestinian youth in refugee camps in the occupied territories, Lebanon and Syria.

Del Naja and Damon ALbarn with the help of United Visual Artists campaigned against the UK's Trident nuclear sub renewal aboard the Arctic Sunrise on the Thames.

On 14th November 2012, on the eve of the Bristol Mayor election the band caused some surprise by endorsing a politically right leaning candidate, independent millionaire and former LibDem George Ferguson, citing the need for a mayor who brought projects to the city. (thisisbristol.com). Previously, Del Naja had openly criticised Ferguson for being a member of the Merchant venturers, an organisation that has evolved from the Bristol slave trade. (thisisbristol.com)

In 2008, Massive Attack curated the annual Meltdown festival on London's south bank. During the two weeks of live performance, cinema and art, they worked with human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith and his Reprieve organisation which uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners.

In 2010, the video for shot by Oliver Chanarin and Adam Bloomberg for the song "Saturday come slow", featuring Damon Albarn, drew attention to the use of music in torture. In 2010, Massive Attack donated the income from a Lincoln car commercial to the clean up campaign up after the BP oil spill disaster.

Massive Attack donated all proceeds from their 2010 EP Atlas Air this week for War Child, a charity the band previously supported when they contributed to the HELP album.

Del Naja supports the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel and his band will not perform in Israel, a stance Del Naja qualifies as being "not an action of aggression towards the Israeli people" but "towards the government and its policies", arguing that "the Palestinians have no access to the same fundamental benefits that the Israelis do."

Del Naja and Thom Yorke of Radiohead threw an unofficial party at the occupied UBS building in the city of London in December 2011, in support for the international Occupy movement.