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| - In November 2024, more than a year after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, and amid Israel's ongoing onslaught in Gaza, a viral post claimed rock band U2 and singer Bob Geldof would be performing in support of the Israeli military.
A series of posts claimed that the Irish rock stars were "set to play a multi stadium tour in aid of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)."
(X user @WillMcC06903346)
There is no evidence that U2 and Geldof have planned or announced a multi-stadium tour to support the IDF. The unfounded claim originated from a social media account that was satirical in nature.
However, a number of posts reshared the claim, assuming it to be real, and calling for a boycott of U2 and Geldof. One post stated, "Boycott Zionist rock stars like Bob Geldof, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Radiohead, and U2. They're all shite these days, anyway."
The claim first appeared on Nov. 4, 2024, on an X account titled, "The Real Irish Times." The account bio states: "Political Satire & Parody. Exposing the hypocrisy of the Irish media and those in positions of power & influence."
We also looked at U2's upcoming tour dates and found no instances of them touring in Israel, nor any social media posts indicating where the profits from any upcoming tours would go. Geldof will be touring Australia in March and April 2025, but we found no evidence of U2 doing a joint tour with Geldof to support the Israeli army. If that were the case, it would have been widely reported by entertainment news outlets.
However, after the Oct. 7 attacks, during an October 2023 performance, U2 frontman Bono dedicated a song to the Israeli victims of the Hamas attacks, and updated the lyrics to "Pride" to state: ""Early morning, Oct. 7, as the sun is rising in the desert sky/ Stars of David, they took your life/ But they could not take your pride/ Could not take your pride/ Could not take your pride."
"It was a festival of music and peace," Bono said to the audience. "A festival of music and peace. Can you imagine?"
The band's accompanying Instagram post stated:
In the light of what's happened in Israel and Gaza, a song about non-violence seems somewhat ridiculous, even laughable, but our prayers have always been for peace and for non-violence…
But our hearts and our anger, you know where that's pointed. So sing with us… and those beautiful kids at that music festival…
Geldof also addressed the Israel-Palestine crisis in a November 2023 interview with Deadline, calling it "catastrophic":
What is indisputable is that there can never be the mass bombing of children on any side. The murder of children on one side, or the mass killing by bombing on the other, that is not allowed. [...] But it happens. Even if it's not allowed and whether it's Russian bombs or whether it's Israeli bombs or whether it's Hamas murder we keep saying it's not allowed, but it's ignored. Things like having no food, however, that can be resolved. [...] If Russia becomes poor, the people have to be distracted by invasions of other countries. If Gaza and the people of Palestine weren't kept in poverty, then there wouldn't be the causality. So there are two things, causality and moral agency. The dilemma is arguing between those two things.
The same satirical X account had also shared a lot of content in support of Palestine, and its post on U2 and Geldof likely addressed criticisms of those artists' lack of support for the people of Gaza.
Both U2 and Geldof have been criticized by other Irish artists for not doing enough for the people of Gaza, given that they built their reputations on social justice issues, were active in fundraising for famines, were often pictured alongside anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, and engaged with many political issues over decades.
In March 2024, a group of Irish artists boycotted the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Texas, over its sponsorship by the U.S. Army. Among the reasons the numerous groups cited for the boycott were the U.S. Army's support for Israel's attacks on Gaza and their refusal to "align" with weapons manufacturers.
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