Singer pulls out of Latitude Festival over Israel ties: ‘I won’t be complicit in genocide’-Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro

CMAT has pulled out of Latitude Festival (Picture: REX)

Irish singer CMAT has pulled out of Latitude Festival over its ties with Barclays amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

The musician, 28, shared a statement on Instagram with fans, explaining her decision ahead of the Festival next month.

She wrote: ‘I am very sorry to announce that I am officially pulling out of playing the main stage of Latitude Festival 2024.

‘You may or may not be aware, but Latitude’s main sponsor is Barclay’s bank, who have been revealed to have increased their financing of various companies who are supplying weapons and military technology to Israel.’

‘Specifically it has invested over £100million into General Dynamics which provides gun systems to the fighter jets which are being used by Israel to bombard Gaza,’ CMAT claimed.

The If My Wife New I’d Be Dead hitmaker went on: ‘I made Latitude aware of what my decision would be weeks ago, but was hoping that with all of the press surrounding the brave artists who pulled out of The Great Escape festival for the same reasons, that Latitude would divest from Barclay’s or find another sponsor.

‘This has not happened and it has been made clear to me that it will not happen. As such I am now officially pulling out.

‘I will not allow my precious work, my music, which I love so much, to get into bed with violence.

‘Myself, and the entire CMAT touring crew who I love so much, refuse to be complicit in genocide.’

CMAT said she’s ‘utterly devastated’ at the outcome (Picture: Richard Isaac/Shutterstock)

CMAT went on to say she’s ‘utterly devastated’ at this outcome, recalling playing at Latitude’s Sunrise Arena in 2021, with it being ‘one of my most cherished memories’.

‘I really hope to play this festival again in the future under different circumstances, and under a different sponsor,’ she said.

To her fans, she added: ‘I also want to say I am so so sorry to be letting down anyone who was coming to see us at Latitude.

‘I really hope I can make it up to you somehow, and I hope you can understand my choice to not play.

‘I toyed with the idea of playing and donating our fee, but it honestly just isn’t what the BDS movement is asking me to do, and I could never claim to know more than them.

‘Let me be clear. There is a genocide happening in Palestine right now. All I can do as a citizen is turn up to as many demonstrations as possible and try to follow the advice of the BDS boycott list as closely as I possibly can. This falls under that action.

‘I hope that as many of you reading this as possible will choose to show your solidarity with the Palestinian people in whatever way you can.’

CMAT’s post was showered in applause and fans supporting her decision (Picture: Jed Cullen/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Her post was showered in support from fans, with some calling her a ‘legend’ and others applauding her for ‘taking a stand and showing your integrity’.

A statement on the Barclays website regarding ‘financing and investing in arms manufacturers supplying weapons used by Israel in Gaza’ reads: ‘First and most importantly, we recognise the profound human suffering caused by this conflict. This is an exceptionally complex and long-running conflict, and we urge governments and the international community to work together to find a lasting, peaceful solution.

‘Barclays has been the subject of criticism in relation to Gaza based on two arguments: that Barclays is an investor in these businesses, and that we provide a range of financial services to clients which produce equipment used by the Israeli Defence Force.

‘We have been asked why we invest in nine defence companies supplying Israel, but this mistakes what we do. We trade in shares of listed companies in response to client instruction or demand and that may result in us holding shares. We are not making investments for Barclays and Barclays is not a “shareholder” or “investor” in that sense in relation to these companies.

‘An associated claim is that we invest in Elbit, an Israeli defence manufacturer which also supplies the UK armed forces with equipment and training. For the reasons mentioned, it is not true that we have made a decision to invest in Elbit. We may hold shares in relation to client driven transactions, which is why we appear on the share register, but we are not investors. We note also that Elbit is highlighted because campaigners claim it makes cluster bombs. We would cease any relationship with any business where we saw evidence that it manufactures cluster bombs or components.

‘I will not allow my precious work, my music, which I love so much, to get into bed with violence.’ (Picture: Dave Hogan/Hogan Media/Shutterst)

‘As a bank, our job is to provide financial services to thousands of business clients and that includes those in the defence sector. Clients in this sector include US, UK or European companies which supply defence products to NATO and other allies including Ukraine.’

It adds: ‘It is the role of Government to decide foreign policy and laws which restrict the delivery of weapons to any one country. We have noted the UK and US Governments’ concern with respect to civilian deaths and the targeting of aid workers, and will continue to monitor developments closely.’

CMAT’s decision comes after Charlotte Church was also praised for refusing to perform at this year’s Hay Festival in solidarity with Palestine.

Since Israel declared war on Hamas on October 7, more than 36,000 people have died in Gaza and 81,000 injured, according to AlJazeera.

The ICJ has ordered Israel to ‘immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah’ after an application by South Africa accusing it of genocide.

A judge said the situation there had deteriorated since it last told Israel to improve things.

Israel dismissed the allegations and said it would ignore the order, the BBC reported.

Metro.co.uk has approached Latitude Festival for comment.

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