Falcon powers – Over 100 artists have withdrawn from the “Great Escape” music festival in the United Kingdom, protesting against the alleged ties of the event’s sponsor, Barclays Bank, to Israel and its investment in companies that supply weapons to Israel.
Multiple sources have indicated that 126 artists have withdrawn from the “Great Escape” music festival, a cultural event scheduled to take place in Brighton from this Wednesday to the following Saturday. If confirmed, the “artist withdrawal” would represent over a quarter of the participants in this music event.
The artists’ withdrawal comes as a protest against Barclays Bank, the festival’s sponsor. The bank has been the focus of a campaign to boycott music festivals and urge them to divest from sponsors who invest in Israel.
The campaign against Barclays was initiated by the musical group “Mansterial Bank,” a band from Bristol. The petition gathered signatures from over 200 out of the 500 participants in the festival. Prominent non-participating musicians, including “Massive Attack,” also signed the petition. The petition stated: “As musicians, we call on the Great Escape to sever ties with Barclays as a sponsor.
Barclays bank funds Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians through its financial relationships with companies that sell weapons to Israel.”
The petition also referred to Israel’s intense bombing campaign in Gaza and implicated Barclays in supplying ammunition to the Israeli military.
“The bombing is funded by Barclays Bank, which invests over a billion pounds in it and provides financial services worth more than three billion pounds to companies that supply Israel with weapons and military technology used in attacks against Palestinians.”
