While much of the fanfare surrounding the ongoing U2 residency at the newly opened Sphere in Las Vegas has focused on the venues technological and structural grandeur, frontman Bono took some time on Sunday to pull focus away from Vegas and toward the Middle East, where Hamas on Saturday launched a deadly incursion out of the Gaza Strip at various sites in Israel including an electronic music festival in the Negev Desert. More than 260 attendees, many of them between 20 and 40 years of age, were reported dead in that attack, while the accounts of survivors illustrate a nightmare scenario at the event.
“In light of what happened in Israel and Gaza,” Bono said as the band eased into “Pride (In The Name of Love)”, the hit 2003 track that honors the peaceful protest methods of American civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “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…”
During an instrumental interlude in the song, Bono continued, “Sing for our brothers and sisters – who they themselves were singing at the Supernova Sukkot festival in Israel. … We sing for those… Our people, our kind of people, music people. Playful, experimental people. Our kind of people. We sing for them.”
Related: The Sphere Celebrates Opening Night With First Concert Featuring U2 [Photos/Videos]
During the song’s third verse, Bono altered the lyrics to reference the attack at the music festival in Israel rather than Dr. King’s April 5th, 1968 assassination in Memphis, TN: “Early morning, October 7th, as the sun is rising in a desert sky. Stars of David, they took your life, but they could not take your pride.” The band followed the altered rendition of “Pride” with “MLK”, another number written in honor of the late civil rights activist, and more thoughts from Bono on the weekend’s violence: “The SUPERNOVA Sukkot gathering was a festival of music and peace. Can you imagine what these [expletives] were doing?” He asked before moving into the song. Watch a clip of Bono and U2 honoring the victims of the Hamas attack at the SUPERNOVA music festival in Israel during a show at Sphere below.
The SUPERNOVA electronic music festival was among the many sites in Israel attacked during this weekend’s deadly incursion by the militant Islamic organization Hamas out of the Gaza Strip, the densely populated Palestinian territory that came under Hamas control in 2006 and has been under military blockade by Israel and Egypt since 2007. Israel’s rescue service ZAKA on Monday said paramedics had recovered at least 260 dead bodies at the festival site, though that toll is likely to rise as rescue teams continue to clear the area. Others were reportedly taken hostage by the attackers and brought back to Gaza.
Israel’s military was quick to mobilize following the attacks, launching a series of retaliatory missile strikes on various locations in Gaza. The Israeli military has said it struck more than 500 targets in Gaza from Sunday night into Monday. More than 100,000 Israeli reservists were reportedly mobilized as battles with Hamas militants continued into Monday, portending further military action and rising Palestinian casualties in the coming days.
Related: At Least 260 Dead At Music Festival In Israel Following Hamas Attacks [Videos]
Editor’s note: If you are learning about these attacks via this article, we urge you to seek out additional reporting on the ongoing violence in Israel and Palestine via other sources. While we are heartbroken by the violence and devastated by the thought of such horrors taking place at a festival—the sort of gathering we know well as a peaceful space for togetherness and artistic expression—the scope and significance of these attacks extend far beyond this live music event. Our hearts are with any and all victims of violence.
