U2 speak out in support of Palestine in lengthy statement
U2 have shared a lengthy statement that details their frustration at the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which is now deep in “uncharted territory.”
Each band member is afforded their own statement in the shared polemic. Bono’s, the lengthiest by far, began with the admission that he has previously “generally tried to stay out of the politics of the Middle East” due to “uncertainty in the face of obvious complexity.”
However, Bono then detailed how the worsening atrocities have awoken his political consciousness. He shared, “The images of starving children on the Gaza Strip brought me back to a working trip to a food station in Ethiopia my wife Ali and I made 40 years ago next month following U2’s participation in Live Aid 1985. Another man-made famine,” adding that “The rape, murder, and abduction of Israelis at the Nova music festival was evil.”
Detailing his “nauseous” reaction to countless worsening news stories, he added, “But I also understood that Hamas are not the Palestinian people… a people who have for decades endured and continue to endure marginalisation, oppression, occupation, and the systematic stealing of the land that is rightfully theirs. Given our own historic experience of oppression and occupation, it’s little wonder so many here in Ireland have campaigned for decades for justice for the Palestinian people.”
He stressed that “far, far right thinking” ends only in “world war [and] millenarianism.” Near the end of his statement, he wrote: “As someone who has long believed in Israel’s right to exist and supported a two-state solution, I want to make clear to anyone who cares to listen our band’s condemnation of Netanyahu’s immoral actions and join all who have called for a cessation of hostilities on both sides.”
David Evan’s statement was up next. Evans, better known as The Edge, agreed with Bono, beginning, “We are all deeply shocked and profoundly grieved by the suffering unfolding in Gaza. What we are witnessing is not a distant tragedy—it is a test of our shared humanity.”
He then posed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu three questions in the “hope of engaging the conscience and sanity of the people of Israel.” He asks whether Netanyahu is oblivious to the inevitable shame the actions of the IDF put on Israel.
Secondly, he asks how the proposed removal of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank can be “safer” for Israeli people as, as seen in Ireland, displacement “breeds resentment, it hardens hearts, and it guarantees that future generations will inherit conflict rather than peace.” He also asks what the vision is outside of the rejected two-state solution, and finally,
Adam Clayton, bassist in the band, added, “If Israel moves to colonise the Gaza Strip, it will permanently undo any possibility of lasting peace or solution for hostilities.” Running through other pressing questions, he added, “Preserving civilian life is a choice in this war.”
Larry, Mullen Jr, co-founder and drummer, agreed, writing that, in his eyes, “The power to change this obscenity is in the hands of Israel. I undoubtedly support Israel’s right to exist and I also believe Palestinians deserve the same right and a state of their own. Silence serves none of us.”
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