Zurich Street Parade stage management removes Palestinian flag during Jenny Cara’s set
The Swiss DJ stopped playing after the flag was removed before taking the stage at Zentralwäscherei later that night, where the venue publicly backed her right to political expression
Zurich Street Parade’s stage management has removed a Palestinian flag that Swiss DJ Jenny Cara had tied to the front of the decks ahead of her set at the event’s Clubbing Stage, prompting criticism from the local cultural community and a wave of online abuse directed at the artist.
In a post shared on Instagram, Cara addressed the incident, saying she stopped playing after the flag was removed and stating that “raving is never unpolitical”.
The incident was also highlighted by Zentralwäscherei, the community-driven Zurich space for arts, culture, music and politics where Cara performed later that same night, which expressed its support for the DJ and criticised the removal.
In a statement shared on social media, Zentralwäscherei said, “On Saturday, our friend and DJ Jenny Cara raised a Palestinian flag during her set on the Street Parade’s Clubbing Stage. It was torn down by the event’s stage management. She stopped playing, and when sharing her experience on her Instagram, said what needed to be said: ‘Raving is never unpolitical.’”
The Zurich-based community space continued, “Since then, she has faced a wave of online hate and threats, mostly from men. That the abuse comes overwhelmingly from men is not incidental: FLINTA and LGBTQ+ people who take a political stand are attacked for it in ways their cis male colleagues rarely are, and Jenny is being targeted twice over — for being political and for being a woman who dared to be. This is not an isolated reaction: it is part of a wider pattern where any visible solidarity with Palestine is met with disproportionate hostility.
“That same night, Jenny Cara played at Zentralwäscherei. Our stage and our community stand behind her without reservation. Raving has never been separate from politics. The dance floor has always been a place where people at the margins of societal norms gather, express themselves, and take a stand. Silencing that is not neutrality: it is complicity. We stand with Jenny Cara. We stand with Palestine.”
Zurich Street Parade has said that it distances itself from political activities. A spokesperson told Swiss publication Tsüri that the organisation’s statutes define it as politically neutral, while its stated values include “peace, love, joy, generosity and tolerance throughout the world”. The spokesperson added that the stage manager had recognised the situation and “defused it”.
Jenny Cara Cara has reportedly declined to comment further on the incident when approached by Tsüri.
