UK Ban Sought for DJ Haram After pro-Palestine comments at Sydney Biennale

The UK’s shadow home secretary Chris Philp has reportedly called for DJ Haram to be barred from entering the UK following comments she made at the 25th Biennale of Sydney.

Last month, the New Jersey DJ, producer and vocalist gave an impassioned pro-Palestine speech during an opening event at the annual Sydney festival, sharing her support of those suffering humanitarian crises in Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, Sudan and Syria.

During her speech, she chanted the phrase ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’, and referenced the death toll inflicted by Israel in the ongoing genocide in Palestine and assault on Lebanon, The Guardian reported.

New South Wales Police launched an investigation into the comments she made at the time, where she also told crowds: “It's our duty to oppose the Zio-Australian-Epstein empire.”

According to Jewish News UK, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has now asked that DJ Haram, real name Zubeyda Muzeyyen, be banned from performing at her upcoming UK shows.

He reportedly told the publication: “The last thing this country needs is a visit from yet another international musician embroiled in allegations of antisemitism and promoting terrorism,” alluding to the Home Office’s recent decision to ban Kanye West from entering the UK.

“As the Government continues to struggle to get a grip on the relentless wave of anti-Jewish racism and Islamist extremism in the UK, it is patently not conducive to the public good for Zubeyda Muzeyyen (DJ Haram) to perform here,” he reportedly said. “The Home Secretary needs to get a grip and ban her.”

DJ Haram is set to perform at London’s Phonox as part of a SWANA-focused takeover on April 17, before another show at Birmingham’s Supersonic Festival later in April.

NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said that “free speech is something we value in this country”, after an investigation was launched into DJ Haram’s comments in March. Nothing has come of the investigation as of yet.

Since the investigation was launched, the state's top court has found that the laws that prevented authorised public assemblies in Sydney for almost two months, alleged by many as censoring the Pro-Palestine movement, were 'unconstitutional'.

Two pieces of legislation gave police extraordinary powers from Christmas Eve 2025, immediately following the Bondi Beach Attack, and were extended on four occasions, ending on February 17 of this year. In that time, Israeli president Isaac Herzog visited Australia to a huge national protest, where 26 people in Sydney were arrested in response, often described as police brutality.

As the ABC reports, the laws were ruled to have "impermissibly burdened" the implied right to freedom of political communication under Australia's constitution in a joint judgment by Chief Justice Andrew Bell, Justice Julie Ward and Justice Stephen Free.

The court’s ruling points to a tension that may never be fully settled. NSW Police and Chris Minns' response to DJ Haram’s comments could also be interpreted as an overreach, one that arguably runs counter to the very freedoms officials insist they uphold.

Whether that interpretation gains any real traction in public discourse or prompts any acknowledgment from authorities, especially those in the UK, remains to be seen.

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This article was originally published on Mixmag Global & Mixmag Asia.