Massive Attack, Fontaines D.C., and Young Fathers will release a charity EP in the spring titled Ceasefire: In Benefit of Doctors Without Borders to raise money for the titular organization’s relief efforts in Gaza. The EP will be available digitally, as well as on a 12-inch vinyl with artwork by Massive Attack’s 3D; the art will also be available as a large-scale print signed by the artist. The EP will come out on March 1 and is available for preorder now. The artists will donate all money they make from the release to Doctors Without Borders, hoping to raise at least £150,000.
The vinyl’s A side features music by Fontaines D.C. and Massive Attack with Young Fathers, and the flipside features words that Doctors Without Borders’ Dr. Mahmoud Abu Nujaila wrote on a hospital whiteboard: “Whoever stays until the end will tell the story. We did what we could. Remember us.” (Nujaila was killed in an airstrike earlier this month.)
“The hourly scenes of horror in Gaza, with hospitals and schools bombed to dust and innocent civilians, journalists and doctors killed in unspeakable numbers has been made so much worse by more than ten weeks of abject political failure,” 3D said in a statement. “We’re in awe of the Doctors Without Borders medics who place their lives on the line to help innocent civilians in Gaza. The Ceasefire EP is a tribute to them, and their incredible ongoing work in truly indescribable circumstances. We stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine.”
“Fontaines D.C. join millions across the world in demanding an immediate ceasefire and a permanent end to Israel’s brutal occupation of Palestine,” the band said collectively. “Since October, Doctors Without Borders have been on the ground in Gaza, where every human is an IDF target, risking their lives to give vital care to the thousands injured by Israel’s indiscriminate attacks on the starving and defenseless. We feel utterly helpless in what we can do at this point, however we do hope our small contribution to this record can raise some desperately needed funds for Doctors Without Borders in Gaza. Ceasefire Now. Free Palestine.”
Natalie Roberts, executive director for Doctors Without Borders, thanked the groups for supporting their efforts in a tweet. “We at [Doctors Without Borders U.K.] love your work,” she wrote.
Israel began its military attacks on Gaza after Hamas, the political group controlling the region, launched a surprise attack on the country in October, killing 1,200 civilians, injuring an unknown number, and taking hundreds of hostages. The BBC reports that Israel’s retaliatory actions since then have resulted in the deaths of at least 20,000 civilians in Gaza. That figure stands for nearly one percent of the region’s 2.2 million–person population.