Over the last few months of the accelerating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Palestine, K-Pop fans have taken action in different capacities to show their support and influence positive change. ARMYs, in particular, have been vocal in asking HYBE to “divest from Zionism,” and the agenda includes the company’s association with Scooter Braun.
Bang Si Hyuk (left) and Scooter Braun (right). | @scooterbraun/Twitter
Braun, the CEO of HYBE America, does not have the best reputation, thanks to frequent complaints about his artist management. But in light of the current situation, many fans have taken issue with his long-time support of Zionist ideologies.
Apart from Braun, fans have also expressed their discomfort with the way BTS’s platform was used to promote Usher recently, an artist who has also been vocal about his support of Zionism and Israel.
Similarly, fans are also disapproving of the speculated release of a song where RM worked with Pharrell Williams, a loyal supporter of Israel and its military bodies.
In 2018 Pharrell performed “Happy” at the Friends of IDF benefit. The benefit raised $60 million. pic.twitter.com/zJMXQggE6z
— Kandist (@kandistmallett) May 14, 2021
Pharrell is a Zionist who helps raise tens of millions for the IDF, if he actually gave a fuck abt racism & social justice he’d stop fund raising for apartheid https://t.co/DcUPQC9eoz https://t.co/9ryJ1ajR2V pic.twitter.com/gpNBECmWrx
— SLANK (@DabSquad_Slank) November 12, 2020
Though the campaigns to demand HYBE to stop associating with Zionism are spread across multiple fanbases of the different groups under HYBE, a few Palestinian ARMYs spearheaded the initiatives, which included a protest truck sent to HYBE’s Seoul headquarters on February 23.
The truck, which highlighted the destruction of life in Gaza, also displayed a message in both English and Korean, voicing the demands of fans, including Scooter Braun’s involvement and other artist collaborations.
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To help spread their voice even further, many fans started to tag prominent Korean news outlets in hopes that if mainstream news covered the issue, HYBE would have to pay attention. However, many ARMYs have alleged that KBS News, in particular, has responded in a passively hostile manner. The official Twitter account hid all the tweets that were posted on its page with the tag “#HYBEDivestFromZionism.”
Additionally, many also claimed that they were blocked by the KBS News account for sending them tweets about the same.
guys … kbs news BLOCKED MY ACCOUNT… pic.twitter.com/OtQvfgjgFu
— ggg (@d2cypher) February 23, 2024
they blocked me too lol pic.twitter.com/Y0urJ70sw7
— ⁷ (@sugarushush) February 23, 2024
how cowardly of kbs news to hide comments and block armys… pic.twitter.com/tZKbBwkSCF
— jenny⁷ (@btsisverygender) February 23, 2024
While it is entirely plausible that these actions were not targeted but a result of existing filtering policies in place on the news outlet’s page, nothing can be asserted with certainty unless KBS News decides to address the allegations.
Meanwhile, the news was recently covered by another highly revered outlet, Al Jazeera. The official Twitter page of Al Jazeera Palestine reported on the truck and the campaign, giving the supporters their much-wanted boost.
محبو فناني HYBE الكورية يطالبون بوقف دعمها للاحتلال الإسرائيلي#فيديو #حرب_غزة pic.twitter.com/20OHoNkSdO
— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) February 23, 2024
This is not the first time ARMYs have mobilized to stand up for a good cause. The fanbase famously made headlines for matching BTS’s whopping USD 1 million Dollars’ worth of donation to the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. It is perhaps because of the message of BTS’s music that such a great number of individuals still continue with their admirable activism.
