It hasn’t been long since K-pop boy group ATEEZ‘S The eight members made their latest comeback with the 10th mini album ‘Golden Hour: Part 1’ on May 31. Following the anticipated music release led by the title track ‘Work’, the octet announced a new collaboration with Dutch DJ Don Diablo. And thus, the remix version of their new album’s lead single, ‘Work Pt. 2’, has been revealed.
However, instead of wholeheartedly supporting the beloved band’s experimental musical output, ATEEZ fans – ATINYs – began unleashing a series of adverse reactions to the creative partnership, as critical clips depicting Diablo’s “Zionist” ties resurfaced online.
The tide turned drastically on Friday, June 14 (KST), as the official ATEEZ X (formerly Twitter) page shared a dance video featuring members Yunho and Yeosang dancing to the tune of their latest lead single “Work Challenge,” boosting their song’s virality on social media.
ATEEZ’s ‘Work for Palestine’ trend captivates fans
Although the same video also appeared on the K-pop artist’s Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok channels, the X/Twitter post particularly caught fans’ attention. Originally posted on X on June 14 at 9:16 a.m., the Yunho-Yeosang work challenge video was captioned with the following hashtags: “#GottaWORK #WORKchallenge #ATEEZ #에이티즈 #YUNHO #윤호 #YEOSANG #여상 #GOLDENHOUR_Part1 #WORK_for_Palestine”
Read this also | BTS Festa: Fans accused of sexual harassment for kissing Jin at hug event, officials respond
Over half an hour later, a revised copy of the post was edited, removing #Work_for_Palestine. However, an army of fans had already caught the heat of the original caption. Furthermore, thanks to the platform’s updated settings, users can easily access a post’s “edit history,” giving fans ample proof of what happened.
ATNI immediately stepped in to promote the deleted hashtag until #Work_For_Palestine climbed the trending charts and gained enough momentum. Despite his mysterious ways, fans praised the man responsible for speaking out in support of Palestine.
“I hope whoever did this doesn’t get fired,” one fan wrote on X. Another responded, “Tweeting WorkForPalestine and then deleting the hashtag because it’s against company rules is insane.” A third AT&T wrote, “Intern Nim, you will not be silenced, we stand together.”
Eventually fans spread the word, and similar keywords such as “Golden Hour for Palestine” and “ATEZ for Palestine” also joined the trend.
More words of support for the group emerged, as ATINY praised the group for expressing its support, even if only vaguely, amid Israel’s war on Gaza.
Several reports have highlighted that Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas have been included in the UN’s blacklist for violating children’s rights. The UN’s report on children in armed conflict said that 5,698 serious violations against children were attributed to the Israeli military, while 116 were linked to Hamas.
ATEEZ fans have consistently gushed over how the group’s fictional narrative, established through their interconnected music videos and related content, depicts their characters as members of a resistance group against the central government in a dystopian setting. The story particularly strikes a chord with contemporary audiences as the vision resonates poignantly with the dark realities of a war-torn world.
K-pop artists in support of Palestine
Fans applauded this “bold move”, as K-pop artists are bound like cogs in a machine under contract, they don’t have much freedom to speak on political issues, which can greatly divide the fans who follow them. “Wow @ATEEZofficial started a trend, and woke up his fans, by adding Palestine to his hashtag??? This is a bold move! Awesome 👏🏻👏🏻”
Read this also | Taylor Swift confirms if she will add more dates to Eras Tour in Liverpool after official end announcement
While many Western artists like Ariana Grande, Kehlani, Billie Eilish and others have clearly expressed their activism and support for the Palestinian cause, with some others siding with the Israeli narrative to the contrary, K-pop artists have not had enough autonomy to take any steps in their favor. Despite these undeclared bylaws, many K-pop stars have shown their subtle support for Palestine in one way or another.
In October 2023, KARD’s BM wrote on X/Twitter, “While I am able to celebrate another birthday, many innocent people in Gaza are losing this privilege. Please pray for all those who are lost and for those who are desperately trying to end this situation 🙏🏻”
Subsequently, in April 2024, EXO’s Suho, Chu, Kwon Eunbi and some other Korean artists received praise for participating in the 12th Green Heart Bazaar, a joint initiative of the State Emergency Services (SES) and UNICEF to raise funds to help children in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.
K-pop boycott campaign
Artists from K-pop giant HYBE Corporation have specifically faced several ongoing boycott campaigns due to the label’s professional ties with HYBE-America CEO Scooter Braun. Braun is another high-profile figure who has been very vocal about his support for the Israeli cause, which prompted fans of BTS and other HYBE groups to launch petitions urging the agency to disassociate from “Zionism” and “Zionists” in the industry.
Recently, SM Entertainment’s massive boy group NCT announced their collaboration with Starbucks, another brand plagued by severe boycott campaigns. Fans expressed their utter disappointment over the K-pop agency’s decision to collaborate with the cafe company. As the online movement grew, apparently the uproar must have reached the ears of the NCT members.
While away from the music scene to fulfill his mandatory military duties, Taeyong signaled his stance by posting a black-screen Instagram story with one word: “Boycott.” He promptly deleted the story, leading to rampant speculation that K-pop artists lack significant authority in such matters.
Following his example, fellow NCT member Renjun took a similar stance on his Instagram Stories and later deleted the post (or it was taken down by the company, as fans speculated). In each case, fans did the heavy lifting and spread the word. Meanwhile, they debated how the company could remove these stories, just as ATEEZ’s June 14 X/Twitter post was edited.
Adding fuel to the fire, a message from NCT leader Taeyong from October 2023 recently resurfaced, further stating that K-pop artists have no real authority: “Because I’m a leader, there are a lot of things here and there that people ask me to do… I’m not the one who started the company… I don’t know much, and it seems like I don’t have any authority. Still, I want to thank you all so much for the many ideas here and there.”
Similarly, SEVENTEEN’s DK reportedly confirmed on a Weverse live broadcast that HYBE “silenced” him from speaking out on these issues. Raising awareness through a comment during the broadcast, a fan asked the singer to raise his hand if he wasn’t allowed to talk about it: “Dokyeom, Palestinian CARATs are now in danger because of the ceasefire. The children outside are also having a hard time. Are you aware of this and stand with Palestine? If you can’t talk about this, please do this instead ✋🏻.”
Once he did so, many netizens assumed that this was his way of supporting the Palestinian cause. However, more conversations speculated whether it was mistranslated from Korean to English. Although there is no way to confirm the speculations, fans could not avoid noticing that the live video was removed from the platform, only to later upload a modified version with some parts missing. Comments on the broadcast were also reportedly filtered.
RM of BTS, Lihan of BoyNextDoor, and Beomgyu of Tomorrow X Together were among a few other HYBE artists who went viral for allegedly (subtly) standing in solidarity with the Palestinian issue.
