A SCOTTISH band has pulled out of a major American music festival in an act of protest for Gaza.
Dozens of acts have pulled out of the nine-day South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas, due to the event being sponsored by several weapons companies and agencies tied to the US Department of Defense which reportedly arm Israel.
Neon Waltz was one of the bands in a Scottish cohort of acts who attended the festival for the Scotland at SXSW showcase – which looks to present a cross-section of emerging Scottish acts.
They released a statement on Instagram on Thursday, however, saying that they will not play again after initially taking to the stage on Monday as they “cannot be complicit in the horror being inflicted on the Palestinian people”.
The statement read: “We decided to pull out of our official SXSW Scotland showcase last night and all official SXSW events.
“We each try to support the Palestinian cause in our private lives and therefore it is hypocritical if we don’t uphold that stance with our band.”
The band then cited the Irish bands that also pulled out of the festival in protest, expressing their regret that they hadn’t cancelled their appearance sooner.
“But recognising that it is never too late to take the right course of action led us to cancel the second (show),” they added.
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