Over 80 artists and speakers dropped out of Austin-based music and culture festival SXSW earlier this year, in reaction to SXSW’s partnership with U.S. Defense Department in the face of the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Of the 80 were every Irish act at the festival, including the entire lineup of the Music From Ireland stages. 

Back in March, SXSW announced the U.S. Army as a “super sponsor” of the multi-day event, along with defense contractor Collins Aerospace. In their words, “The defense industry has historically been a proving ground for many of the systems we rely on today. These institutions are often leaders in emerging technologies, and we believe it’s better to understand how their approach will impact our lives.”

But to fans and artists alike, it was a huge disappointment. The U.S. Army, along with its many defense contractors like Collins Aerospace and Raytheon, are the largest equipment suppliers to Israel. To date, over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli occupation, and the fighting has left much of the country on the verge of famine. With it’s help in arming Israel, the U.S. Defense Department has been effectively aiding the genocide of the Palestinian people. 

Music from Ireland artists Cardinals, Chalk, Conchúr White, Gavin James, Gurriers, Kneecap, Mick Flannery, NewDad, Robert Grace, Soda Blonde, and SPRINTS all had pulled out of the festival by Wednesday, March 13th, in advance of their scheduled sets on the 14th and 15th. Irish rap trio Kneecap said in their statement that though, “…this decision will have a significant financial impact on Kneecap, both on lost income and on logistical costs already incurred,” that it “isn’t an iota of hardship when compared to with the unimaginable suffering being inflicted every minute of every day on the people of Gaza.”

In place of their performances, Music from Ireland artists gathered on stage at the Velveeta Stage to read a prepared statement explaining the boycott. Lead singer Pierce Callaghan of Gurriers took to the mic to remind audiences that “We, as Irish people, have a lot of solidarity with the people of Palestine as we share a history of occupation and oppression by colonialist countries.” 

“Sponsorship of the festival from Defense Contractors and those sending arms to destroy innocent lives is an act we find disgusting and reprehensible.” he states. “It is inherently wrong to take the celebration of art with the links to the genocide going on in Palestine. This situation is so much better than us as bands, it's so much bigger than music, it's so much bigger than art and politics, it's genocide. 

The excuses given myself by Southwest have been pathetic, there's no excuse for supporting the ongoing genocide in Palestine. We hope by taking this stand that this festival and other festivals around the world will rethink their sponsorship choices and who they choose to give a platform to, and to keep arms contractors out of the world of art.”

Pierce recalls The Dunnes Stores Strikes of the 1980s. Dublin based Dunnes Stores employee, Mary Manning, was suspended for refusing to handle South African fruit in support of the international campaign to boycott the produce of the apartheid South Africa, setting off a blanket boycott of Dunnes Stores across Ireland. He calls for a similar sense of solidarity from listeners: “If we could all band together then and make a real change we definitely can now.”

Thirteen had the chance to speak with Pierce, about the decision to boycott, about Irish solidarity with Palestine, and how music plays a part in politics.  

THIRTEEN: Major respect for choosing to withdraw support from SWSX for their partnership with the U.S. Army and other defense contractors. What led to the decision to pull out from the festival entirely, as opposed to other options often taken by musicians wanting to support certain causes, like donating proceeds of the show or making a speech during your set?

PIERCE: Thank you. I want to be honest that withdrawing from the festival was not an easy or straightforward decision. There are many different ways to protest, and we discussed a lot of different options as a group and also with other artists. I felt that throughout the entire process, artists really leaned on each other and supported one another, whether that was internally in a band or externally. We had decided that by boycotting, it felt like a more powerful statement was being made, and the way things transpired with all Irish artists boycotting together, that is definitely the case. I know a lot of artists pulled from the festival officially and played unofficial shows, and some played despite wanting to boycott under pressure from labels, management etc. I didn’t attend any official showcases myself, but I did hear anecdotally that a lot of artists did use the platform of their performance, whether official or unofficial, to speak out against the festival's shameless sponsorship choices and their reprehensible platforming of weapons manufacturers - and I really do respect that. Standing up for what you believe in is not always easy, but to answer your question, we felt a complete boycott was the best decision for us, as did all other Irish artists.

THIRTEEN: How would you respond to anyone who wants to argue that music and politics should be separate?

PIERCE: Look, I understand the way some people live their lives, they don’t want to see how the sausage is made. Being wilfully ignorant of what is happening in the world around you is a very privileged way to live. I totally get the idea that art is a massive form of escapism for a lot of people, but then again, so much art is informed by people’s own understanding and takes on the world around them. I’m sure there’s plenty of other avenues for people to explore if they don’t want their music to be political. Also, if they don’t want their music political, they should be critical of the festivals choices in who they take money from and who they platform, not the artist speaking out against it.

THIRTEEN: You mention how the actions of Mary Manning led to a blanket boycott of Dunnes Stores during South African apartheid. What do you feel fans of the bands pulling out of the festival do to support your decision and further the impact of it in similar ways? 

PIERCE: Mary Manning was 21 when she began the Dunnes Stores boycott of South African goods. She was a working class young woman who went on strike with her colleagues at a time when Ireland was in a really, really deep recession. Most would’ve been considered lucky to have work at that time. Their bravery and conviction to back themselves and remain principled kick started an entire movement, and they are remembered as great people who stood on the right side of history.

Now, I’m not comparing us or myself to them, far from it. But our action, however small it may seem to us, can hopefully have an impact on people. We decided not to play a festival - there’ll be more festivals and more gigs and in the long term we’ll all be okay. 

By having an impact - I mean making people consider their choices - speaking to their bosses about not allowing Israeli goods to be sold in their shop or to cut ties with an Israeli supplier, to attend the next pro Palestinian march near you, to write a letter to your local TD to ask them to support expelling the Israeli ambassador, to sign the petition asking for BambiThug to boycott Eurovision etc etc. There are so many, many ways you can make your voice heard and have your impact felt - I want that to be the lasting legacy of this, that we stood up when we had to and encouraged others to do the same in whatever way we can.

THIRTEEN: What is your reaction to the statement SXSW gave in response- that “these institutions are often leaders in emerging technologies…” and their involvement is “is part of our commitment to bring forward ideas that shape our world”?

PIERCE: The SXSW statement was totally laughable and piss poor in all honesty. The statement only highlights how out of touch the organizers and their PR people are with the people that have always made this festival what it is - the artists. SXSW claimed they ‘fully respected’ artists - bullshit. 

THIRTEEN: Do you have any thoughts on Texas governor Greg Abbott’s tweet on the matter as well? 

PIERCE: I found it pretty funny how the festival ran straight away to distance themselves from it because Austin is supposedly blue and young and liberal etc. Like SXSW know they’ve totally fucked up how they are perceived and have potentially killed the festival with this mess they’ve made this year, but the first chance they get to be like ‘Oh well we don’t like him either’ they jump all over it. Laughable, really. 

We know what Greg Abbott is and who he is about and what kind of people support him. Telling anyone who doesn’t agree with US Military policy that they need to both suck it up and support them anyway, as he said in a press conference that week in the UK, but also to leave Texas and not come back, shows you the kind of intellectual level he’s operating on.

THIRTEEN: How do you feel being Irish contributes to your decision to withdraw from SXSW? 

PIERCE: Irish people know exactly what it’s like to have a forced occupation from a foreign state on their land. People will give out about the Brits and 800 years and all that sort of stuff - more than 10 times the amount of people that died throughout the entirety of The Troubles have been murdered in Palestine in just under 6 months.

THIRTEEN: What would you say to Americans (especially Irish-Americans) that disagree with your pro-Palestine stance?

PIERCE: I understand Irish-Americans love America so much. I’m from an Irish-American family. I was born in Chicago. I went there for a few days after SXSW and had these sorts of conversations. America offered the Irish, and lots of other immigrants, a chance at a life that they would’ve never gotten at home, so I totally understand their protectiveness of American ideals and of America itself.

However, anyone of Irish heritage, whether that’s you came here from Ireland yourself or you claim your Irishness through some long lost relative you never met but claim to be so proud of, to support the US’s continuous backing of Israeli enforced genocide against the Palestinian people, is doing that whole wilfully ignorant thing I talked about earlier, and they probably aren’t as in touch with their Irishness as they might think they are.

THIRTEEN: There’s been a significant interest in Ireland and Irish culture online lately, though it’s been fairly surface level. If you had to explain to someone whose only understanding of Irish culture and history is memes about Hozier in the bog why the Irish feel so strongly allied with Palestine, how would you explain it? 

PIERCE: Ireland is really having a moment on the world stage lately. We are at the forefront of music, film, art and so much more. It genuinely does make me really proud. We are a small country, but when you see your fellow Irish people being recognised for their ability - it makes what you’re doing and where you ultimately want to get to feel a lot more tangible. If they can do that, why can’t we? That kind of thing.

Irish - Palestinian solidarity goes back a long way and is to do with that shared understanding and experience of having an aggressive, forced occupation of your land by a foreign state. Irish people have a long history of speaking out against human right’s injustices, as Mary Manning and her colleagues did in the 80’s, and the Irish support of the Palestinian cause is no different. Ireland will be at the forefront of human rights advocacy and will be at the forefront of International support for Palestine and its people for some time to come.

Saoirse don Phalaistín.