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For a little context on how effective the 'critics' have been: Every Irish act has pulled out over the last week or two; twelve acts in total. Kneecap were the
by mandmandam 3y ago
For a little context on how effective the 'critics' have been: Every Irish act has pulled out over the last week or two; twelve acts in total.
Kneecap were the first to cancel their show, I think, and put it like this on social media:
> "That the organisers of SXSW have taken the decision to mix the arts with the military and weapons companies is unforgivable, that they have done so as we witness a genocide facilitated by the US military and its contractors is depraved."
The loss of earnings to these artists is significant, before anyone tries to claim they're doing this for attention or clout.
Some will surely claim that this is because the Irish are so 'anti-semitic'. Having lived here for decades, I can promise you that there is fuck-all anti Jewish sentiment across the country. What we dislike is settler colonialist land-grabs and ethnic cleansing.
- easyThrowaway 3y agoGiven the historical parallels between the troubles and the current gaza conflict, It's not exactly surprising specifically Irish musicians decided to boycott.
- mandmandam 3y agoNo, but a lot of money was left on the table. That's always a little surprising. What's surprising to me is that SXSW thought getting sponsorship from companies whose products have killed over 30,000 Palestinians in a matter of months was a smart and cool thing to do. To then have the additional hubris of trying to legally intimidate critics with farcical threats is actually a little surprising too. Like, dig up, dipshits. Time to donate to the EFF again.
- easyThrowaway 3y agoIn these kind of events it's not uncommon that those who actually run the show and those who handle the money side of things are usually very different groups, with very little communication between them. Pitchfork Music Festival had a similar incident a few years ago.
- williamvds 3y agoNot to mention the centuries of oppression Ireland faced under English rule, where they became effectively slaves in their own country.
- jojobas 3y ago[flagged]
- robin_reala 3y agoKneecap standing up for the right thing, as per usual. See also https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/12/the-tale-of-the-northern-irish-rap-group-the-tories-and-the-sinister-censoring-of-anti-british-art https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/12/the-ta...
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]