Two musicians, Mui Zyu and Georgia Ruth, have withdrawn from performing at this year’s Latitude festival. This comes after complaints the festival is sponsored by Barclays, which is allegedly tied to Israel. Zyu posted on Instagram, stating that “The festival is sponsored by Barclays who are continuing to profit from the genocide in Palestine.” She added that Barclays was listed in the BDS movement’s boycott list and was financing weapons used in Palestine. She urged her fans to consider not attending the festival in protest. Ruth also made a statement on Instagram, calling on Latitude to sever financial ties with Barclaycard.
These withdrawals follow other acts such as Pillow Queens and CMAT, who announced they would not be performing to protest against Barclays’ sponsorship. Last month, The Great Escape faced a similar mass boycott by more than 100 acts that were protesting against the festival’s links to the bank. According to Latitude Festival partnership website, Barclaycard is the official headline partner of Latitude Festival. A spokesperson for Barclays said the bank was not making direct investments in the defence companies.
The issue of Barclays’ investment in firms that sell military products to the Israeli Defence Force has drawn protests from campaigners. A recent Palestine Solidarity Campaign report revealed that Barclays invests over £2 billion in, and provides loans and underwriting worth £6.1 billion, to nine companies whose weapons, components and military technology are used in Israel’s attacks on Palestinians”. Barclays has said it does not invest in these companies, but trades in shares of listed companies in response to client instruction or demand.
Other festivals have also seen similar boycotts over alleged ties to countries or entities perceived to be involved in human rights violations. Last March, several musicians refused to appear at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. They were protesting about the event’s connections with the US Army and weapons companies amid the Israel-Gaza conflict
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