The case of clubs Drugstore and Dim and Reasons for their Boycott
Drugstore and Dim are two venues run and owned by the same people. The problem with Drugstore arose when they co-organized a HÖR party, a Berlin-based organization started by former IOF members who censored pro-Palestinian artists. Our collective For a Free Palestine (ZSP) called for a boycott of this party in collaboration with the group Ravers For Palestine, which stands against HÖR, KKR, and Boiler Room due to their connections to the Zionist regime and their role in whitewashing of Israel. After our Instagram post, in which we called for a boycott of HÖR, but also urged Drugstore to withdraw from the organization of the event, the people behind Drugstore and Dim, instead of calling for a dialogue or responding to the criticism, decided to block ZSP Instagram account, as well as the personal and business accounts of most people they could associate with ZSP. This is a classic example of silencing the pro-Palestinian community.
Following these events, the owners of these two clubs have done nothing to change their policy, except for making their venue available for pro-Palestinian events, which were not their initiative. While these events themselves do represent progress in increasing visibility of the Palestinian issue, this was still an attempt to “fix” the situation by inserting some pro-Palestinian content into a space that promotes “Israeli culture”.
In the long run, this approach is counterproductive to the struggle for the liberation of Palestine and the fight against the Zionist regime. In actuality, it helps to normalize the Israeli occupation, apartheid and settler colonialism. Instead of making local clubs aware that the community will not support the promotion of performers associated with the occupying forces and demanding that they publicly speak out and condemn the genocide, they are offered unpaid labour and space, which the venue owners gladly accept in order to repair the image of their clubs and to continue business as usual. After the initial criticism of the HÖR party, the owners of Drugstore and Dim did not initiate or organize any pro-Palestinian events, but they continued their collaboration with HÖR and continued to bring in DJs from Israel. For example, in early March, psy-trance DJs Xeorx & Illuminati were scheduled to perform at Drugstore, but the event was canceled due to the “situation in the Middle East”—as the organizers stated—but the real reason was the aggression of Israel and the US against Iran and Lebanon.
The Boycott of Roi Perez’s Performance
Israeli DJ Roi Perez, a former IOF soldier who voluntarily served seven years in the navy instead of the mandatory two years and 8 months, is scheduled to perform in Drugstore on May 23rd. During his service, the IOF navy blockaded and executed Freedom Flotilla activists in 2010. From 2008–2009, during Operation Cast Lead, IOF gunboats shelled Gaza from the coast, killing 1400 Palestinians.
Pro-Palestinian groups around the world have repeatedly called for the cancellation of his performances, and after the cancellation of an event at the FOLD club in London in October 2025, Roi issued a statement condemning the IOF and the Zionist regime. However, Roi never acknowledged or apologized for his participation in IOF operations during his service in the navy; he did not join the campaign against Berghain, HÖR, and KKR, nor did he renounce his Israeli passport or performances in Israel. In his post, he lied that he had not performed in Israel since October 2023 and turned off comments to silence the community.
To us, Roi is not the focal point; no one is calling for the ruin of his career. He is just one part of the system that works to normalize and whitewash Israel’s genocide and existence. We hope he will be encouraged to take additional steps and that in the future he gets involved in the fight against the Zionist regime and the apartheid carried out by the occupying forces in Palestine. In our context, the much bigger problem is Drugstore and its owners, who continue the policy of normalizing genocide by providing a platform for Israeli performers.
Why Boycott?
An individual or a venue does not have to publicly express Zionist views to be the subject of the boycott. Drugstore continues to collaborate with problematic Israeli artists and organizations, continues to block and silence pro-Palestinian voices, and has yet to organize a single pro-Palestinian event itself. The goal of the boycott is not to shut down Drugstore or Dim. The goal is for the community to pressure and influence a change in their policy toward Israeli performers and entities. Any boycott is not the purpose in itself, but a means to an end in the struggle against the normalization of genocide. That is why it is important to understand the consequences of the contradiction of organizing events for Palestina in venues that serve as platforms for Israeli propaganda – we cannot simultaneously normalize genocide and perform solidarity.
It is important to understand that solidarity is also trust. ZSP cannot monitor every segment of society where Zionists operate and all the ways in which genocide is normalized, but that is why we collaborate with other collectives and strive to listen to as many Palestinian voices as possible. If one of those groups has a boycott campaign against an individual or organization, it is up to us to have trust and support that fight. In this case, the relevant ones for us are Ravers for Palestine and the Palestinian DJs we are in contact with.
What you can do
- Boycott Drugstore and Dim until their owners publicly address their decisions and take responsibility
- Hold accountable those who instrumentalise solidarity with Palestine in order to cover their own politics
- Share information with the community about HÖR, KKR and other community boycotts in within the nightlife scene
- Organise actions to build pressure on the venue (see previous actions against Boiler Room for inspiration)
Further readings
The path to liberation is not easy, and the sooner we accept that Palestine is the future of the world, the easier it will be for all of us to give up small things and go out of our comfort zones. Yes, we will have to make sacrifices, we will have to find alternatives, and build new networks. As Francesca Albanese emphasized during her recent visit to Belgrade, we must rethnik our own consumerist habits because they represent direct support for the economy of genocide. This applies to global international companies and brands such as Airbnb, Booking.com and Coca Cola-Cola, but the same principle also applies to local companies and brands that help sustain the politics of normalization by accepting collaborations, sponsorships and partnerships with Israeli platforms.