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SXSW ends US Army partnership after backlash from artists over Palestine
Festival severs Army and defense contractor sponsorships after more than 80 artists withdrew from 2024 edition
The film, culture and tech festival, held each March in Austin, Texas, will also discontinue its partnership with Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of weapons manufacturer RTX Corporation, formerly known as Raytheon. RTX has supplied weapons to the Israeli government; on an earnings call in late October last year, its chairman and executive director, Greg Hayes, was quoted as saying the company stood to “benefit” from the increased Department of Defense budget due to Israel’s war in Gaza. Mamalarky’s Noor Khan said it was a “really easy decision” to pull out of the festival, because “playing these two official shows could never bring us anything that matters more than the lives that are being lost in Palestine today”.
Or read this on The Guardian
