Bands pull out of Download festival over Barclays' Israel ties

Multiple bands have withdrawn from the Download festival in protest against Barclaycard being its official payment partner, due to Barclays providing financial services to defence companies supplying Israel.

Download, the UK's biggest rock, metal, and punk festival, which takes place from 14-16 June lists Barclaycard as one of its official sponsors alongside Liquid Death, Red Bull, and others, reports The Guardian. 

Leeds band Pest Control wrote, "We cannot sacrifice the principles held by this band and by the scene we come from and represent, just for personal gain."

In response to their boycott, punk bands Speed, Scowl, and Zulu also pulled out of the festival, criticizing the bank for its financial services.

British metalcore band Ithaca joined the boycott on Tuesday evening. "Once we were made aware of Barclays' involvement in Download we knew we could no longer participate," the band said in a statement. 

"This moment of solidarity is an opportunity for festival organizers to reflect carefully on who they take money from and see that the younger generation of bands will no longer be silent," it added. 

Download Festival has not commented on the boycott.

The bands' decisions follow a widespread boycott of Brighton's Barclaycard-sponsored Great Escape festival in May, with more than 100 acts pulling out of that event.

Barclays has recently drawn ire from pro-Palestine campaigners. This week, members of the activist group Palestine Action vandalised about 20 branches of Barclays across the UK, including smashing windows and daubing them with red paint; in Edinburgh, rocks inscribed with the names of dead Palestinians were thrown at a bank branch.

The UK-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign calls for a boycott of the bank over its "grave complicity in Israel's attacks on Palestinians," alleging Barclays "now holds over £2bn in shares, and provides £6.1bn in loans and underwriting" to companies providing weapons systems to Israel.