Irish rockers U2 have spoken out on the Israel-Palestine crisis, with Bono saying that Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions “now feel like uncharted territory”.
In an Instagram post published yesterday, the four members of U2 - Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. - wrote personal responses to Israel’s actions in Gaza.
After his condemnation of Hamas’ “diabolical” actions, Bono turned his focus to the Israeli government, which he said “today deserves our categorical and unequivocal condemnation”.
“There is no justification for the brutality [Netanyahu] and his far right government have inflicted on the Palestinian people… in Gaza… in the West Bank. And not just since October 7, well before it too… though the level of depravity and lawlessness we are seeing now feels like uncharted territory.”
He continued: “And now Netanyahu announces a military takeover of Gaza City... which most informed commentators understand as a euphemism for the colonization of Gaza.”
He is referring here to the announcement made by the Israeli government on Saturday 9 August, in which a ground offensive that will aim to take complete control of Gaza City was approved.
“We know the rest of the Gaza Strip… and the West Bank are next,” Bono added. “What century are we in? Is the world not done with this far, far right thinking? We know where it ends… world war… millenarianism.”
He continued: “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.”
U2 bassist Adam Clayton wrote that “preserving civilian life is a choice in this war”, while drummer Larry Mullen Jr. said: “It’s difficult to comprehend how any civilised society can think starving children is going to further any cause and be justified as an acceptable response to another horror.” He added that “starving innocent civilians as a weapon of war is inhumane and criminal.”
You can read the full statements below:
The recent statements made by U2 follow Bono’s comments at the Ivor Novello Awards in May.
The band took to the stage to accept the Fellowship of the Ivors Academy, with Bono saying: “I used to introduce this next song by saying it was not a rebel song. It was because believing in the possibilities of peace was then, and is now, a rebellious act; and some would say a ridiculous one” – referring to the U2 song ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’, their 1983 track about the 1972 massacre in which the British army shot at unarmed protestors during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
The singer then criticised both Hamas and Netanyahu: “Hamas, release the hostages, stop the war. Israel, be released from Benjamin Netanyahu and the far-right fundamentalists that twist your sacred texts,” he said at the time, adding: “All of you, protect our aid workers – they are the best of us."
“To believe peace was attainable between your country and ours, between our country and itself was a ridiculous idea because peace creates possibilities in the most intractable situations and lord knows there’s a few of them out there right now,” he added.
UN human rights experts and UN bodies have said that Israel’s military actions in Gaza may amount to genocide. The International Court of Justice has found claims of genocide plausible. Israel rejects the accusations and denies committing any war crimes.
