Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.05.2019, Page 15

15 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 07— 2019
EURO
VISIONS
Hatari, Israel and Allyship –
when art takes a stand on a flashpoint
Words: Andie Fontaine Photos: Baldur Kristjánsson Hatari graphics courtesy of: Ingi Kristján
Since their formation in
2015, Hatari—an anti-
capitalist synth-techno
band comprising core
members Matthías Tryg-
gvi Haraldsson, Klemens
Hannigan and Einar Hrafn
Stefánsson, alongside
numerous contributors—
have provoked, excited,
and defied expectations.
Their live shows come replete with
theatrical staging, gothic-industrial
aesthetics and BDSM overtones, and
their lyrical content is socially and
politically critical. Their shrewd inter-
actions with the media have been
works of performance art in and of
themselves. Receiving wide acclaim
and playing on big stages to grow-
ing crowds, Hatari have established a
popular and fascinating presence in the
Icelandic music scene.
Their story took a new twist last
January when Hatari threw a new curve-
ball—they entered Söngvakeppnin,
the preliminary competition to repre-
sent Iceland at the 2019 Eurovision
Song Contest in Tel Aviv. Their entry
was “Hatrið Mun Sigra” (“Hate Will
Prevail”)—a dark, pulsing track that
was a stark departure from typical
Eurovision fare. Whether by the merit
of the song, their arresting stage show,
or their stated intent to voice support
for Palestinian liberation as Iceland’s
representative at the contest, the band
quickly went from long-shot spoiler to
odds-on favourite.
Their performance was aired on the
Icelandic national broadcasting service
RÚV, and Hatari—complete with a
dance troupe, and dressed in leather
harnesses, blank contacts, extravagant
makeup, and tall platform boots—
blasted through the heats, easily
winning the final public vote. They’d
succeeded where other outsider Söng-
vakeppnin contestants had failed, and
won over the citizens of Iceland. The
die was cast: Hatari would represent
Iceland in Tel Aviv.
ONWARD TO
ISRAEL
Three months later, on the third of May,
the band’s 19-strong party departed
for Israel. That same day, Israel began
shelling Gaza again. The next day, Gaza
responded by firing makeshift Qassam
rockets into Israel, claiming one life—
their first Israeli casualty by rocket
since 2014; the Israeli government
responded with airstrikes and heavy
shelling, killing seven and wounding
dozens of others, including a pregnant
woman and an infant. At the time of
writing, the Israeli army is poised for a
ground invasion of Gaza.
The conflict between Israel and
Palestine is one of the most intractable
in the world. It has drawn in the involve-
ment, whether militarily or diplomati-
cally, of dozens of countries, many of
them in Europe. Amongst people who
have an opinion on the conflict, you
are unlikely to find anyone with luke-
warm feelings. For these reasons, the
decision taken by Hatari—a band who
normally embrace their ambiguous-
ness of intent—to announce that they
intend to use Eurovision as a platform
to stick up for Palestine has drawn both
strong praise and fierce criticism, from
both sides of the conflict, at home and
abroad.
The situation has put Hatari in the
position of treading into unknown terri-
tory for Iceland. While most Icelanders
support the liberation of Palestine, no
Icelanders have ever publicly voiced
unequivocal support for Palestine in