In a surprising moment during Coldplay’s Sunday concert at London’s Wembley Stadium, lead singer Chris Martin invited two women on stage - unaware they were Israeli - prompting a divided response from the crowd of 90,000.
The women, identified only as Avia and Yael, responded “Israel” when Martin asked where they were from. The crowd reacted with both applause and boos.
Martin thanked the women for attending and then emphasized a message of human equality, saying, “I’m very grateful that you’re here, as human, and I’m treating you as equal humans on earth, regardless of where you come from, or don’t come from.”
He then addressed others in the audience and said, “Although it’s controversial maybe, I also want to welcome people in the audience from Palestine. Because we have a belief that we’re all equal humans.”
Despite his stated belief that all humans are equal, Martin notably made no mention of the hostages currently being held by Hamas, a point that did not go unnoticed by many observers.
Speaking to Kan 11 News after the incident, the two Israeli women said they briefly considered giving a different answer when asked about their nationality.
“For a quarter of a second we thought of saying Malta, but then I said Israel. We couldn’t and didn’t want to lie. It’s a little scary that 90,000 people knew we’re from there, but we said it,” one of them said.
Martin has visited Israel in the past, but Coldplay has notably not held a concert in Israel.
In 2017, reports emerged that Coldplay was planning two "peace concerts" for Israelis and Palestinian Arabs, but the band denied those reports.