SXSW 2019.
Photo: WireImage
Multiple artists have dropped out of SXSW 2024 in support of Palestine, due to the festival’s connections to the defense industry. The U.S. Army exhibits at the festival, and Collins Aerospace, a company under defense contractor RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon), is also participating at this year’s event. Singer-songwriter Ella Williams, who performs as Squirrel Flower, was the first to pull out of official showcases. “Genocide profiteers like Raytheon supply weapons to the IDF, paid for by our taxes,” she wrote on Instagram on March 4. “A music festival should not include war profiteers. I refuse to be complicit in this and withdraw my art and labor in protest.”
Eliza McLamb, Shalom, and Mamalarky have also since pulled out, crediting Squirrel Flower. “I will never put my name on or perform my labor for an event in service of the US war machine, and especially not now as they continue to fuel the ongoing violence against Palestinians,” McLamb wrote on Twitter. “Blood money has no place in music.” All of these musicians will still play unofficial shows in Austin during SXSW from March 8 to March 16.
The Austin for Palestine Coalition previously called on the festival to cut ties with RTX and BAE Systems, a British defense contractor. The group asked SXSW to “reevaluate” the Department of Defense’s participation and “advocate for peace, justice, and human rights” in Gaza. “If SXSW wishes to retain its credibility, it must change course by disavowing the normalization of militarization within the tech and entertainment industries,” the group said. “By taking decisive action, SXSW can set an example for other industry events and join other artists, musicians, creative organizations, and the majority of Americans in the fight for a world free from violence and oppression.”