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SXSW Drops U.S. Army and Weapons Manufacturers as Sponsors After Pro-Palestinian Protests at 2024 Festival
SXSW will no longer accept sponsorship from the U.S. Army or weapons manufacturers following protests and boycotts earlier this year.
Among the protestors was the Irish group Kneecap, who wrote that the “significant financial impact” they’d incur by boycotting “isn’t an iota of hardship when compared with the unimaginable suffering being inflicted every minute of every day on the people of Gaza.” But SXSW pushed back on Abbott’s statement shortly afterward, saying that the festival “fully respect[ed] the decision these artists made to exercise their right to free speech” and that “the situation in the Middle East is tragic, and it illuminates the heightened importance of standing together against injustice.” In regard to Collins Aerospace, they participated this year as a sponsor of two SXSW Pitch categories, giving entrepreneurs visibility and funding for potentially game-changing work.”
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