Stefan Christoff: “Media is not just about speaking to an imaginary audience, it’s movement-building”

Stefan Christoff is a journalist, musician and activist who contributes numerous programmes to Radio alHara. He advocates for using art as a tool for opening people’s minds.

This feature was produced in collaboration with Radio alHara as part of their Crack Magazine Issue 168 takeover.

For Stefan Christoff, art is not a distraction from struggle – rather, it is a catalyst for bringing people together, starting conversations, as well as a tool for expressing solidarity in the face of oppression. Surrounded by his books and physical music collection while on a video call from his home office in Montréal, the Canadian activist, musician, artist and community organiser – who hosts two interview programmes and one mix show each month on Radio alHara – speaks with conviction and poise when explaining the intrinsic link between artistic expression and liberation movements. 

“The idea that Palestinians should only be seen as sufferers during our doomscrolls is totally racist and must be challenged,” he says. “They have their own cultural life and projects that we should engage with… it’s an illustration of anti-colonial resistance to erasure and genocide.”

His Radio alHara shows invite guests from across the cultural spectrum to make mixtapes and speak, sing, read poems or orate for Palestine in their own chosen way, with hundreds of episodes released to date. With no strict format, mixtapes from guests including composer ​​Büşra Kayıkçı, bandleader and multi-instrumentalist Sarathy Korwar, visual artist Shellyne Rodriguez, and musician and producer ​​Fadi Tabbal have featured track selections, interviews and protest recordings. 

“As someone who has been mobilising within the arts for Palestine for decades, these conversations are really important to get people involved – both those who are actively vocal about the issue and those who are either not very aware or are hesitant to engage with the Palestinian struggle,” he explains. “I thought it would be a good way to get people in and have these conversations.”  

Art in Action, an interview programme, unfolds in a fluid way, with some guests selected specifically because Christoff is keen to talk to them, while other episodes just happen naturally with friends. He learned this approach over decades of involvement in Montréal’s activism and direct action spaces, and later on a global scale, gaining an understanding of how he should use his positionality and privilege for good: “I don’t want to speak for anybody, but it’s not always easy for Palestinians to have these conversations with people, because of the genocidal context of the Israeli state,” he says. “But I’m not Palestinian, so I’m willing at times to have these conversations. Not always in a public setting. I talk to a lot of people who just don’t know [about the issue]. It’s a mechanism of communication, and to spread the message.”

Outside of his monthly radio shows, Christoff also organises events in Radio alHara’s name in various cities around the world. Guests, from both art and activism spaces, are invited to speak about their work and how activism can look in real life. Previously, this has included stops in Sofia, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Berlin and Mexico City, with topics covered including cross-border collaborations and practical strategies, creative solidarity and cultural mobilisation, and music as a political identity. 

The aim of all of this, he says, is to bridge the gap between conversations held in online spaces and on social media, and bring them into real life and inspire people to take further action in shared spaces. “One of the challenges we face is translating the issues we talk about online into real-life discussions with people,” he says. “As much as there’s a lot of value to online spaces, bringing Radio alHara to different cities and opening up physical spaces for people to gather and learn is, if anything, more valuable.”

Yet, he commends the power of a platform like Radio alHara for its ability to drive change and foster discourse where it may not have otherwise existed. “What people don’t see is that there is a very long-term strategy – I’ve invited hundreds of people to make mixtapes or contribute to broadcasts and… I’ve had hundreds upon hundreds of conversations as a result of Radio alHara,” he reiterates. 

“When you’re facing a mainstream media environment that is totally dehumanising Palestinians, alHara is a tool for those who want to uplift Palestinian life, support Palestinian initiatives and hear each other. That’s what’s important. Media is not just about speaking to an imaginary audience; it’s movement-building, because you’re creating as you’re doing something. You’re creating processes, flows and conversation – so in that sense, it’s revolutionary.”