Bono Pays Respect To 260 Music Fans Who Died In Attack At Israeli Festival

Bono, U2 vocalist (Instagram @u2)

JAKARTA - U2 vocalist Bono paid tribute to 260 music fans who died in the attack at the Israeli festival.

The moment came as the Irish singer was on stage with his band as part of their Las Vegas residence held at Sphere's new $2 billion venue.

In the middle of his performance, he took the time to speak to the audience and expressed his condolences for the events that occurred in Israel and Palestine, stating that his prayers were offered especially to those who died at a music festival.

The incident he meant was an attack launched at the Universo Parallo Festival in Reim, Israel on the weekend, Saturday, October 7, carried out by Hamas.

The electronic festival was stalled in the early hours of Saturday, and it was reported that a rocket explosion hit the site at around 12:00 a.m. (via CNN) before a live shot hit those who arrived shortly after.

Earlier on October 9, it was announced that 260 people had died at the festival, while hundreds more were still missing.

When the band appeared at the Nevada scene last night, vocalist Bono dedicated his hit song in 2003, Pride (In the Name of Love) to the victims, and shared his hopes for a non-violent solution to the conflict.

'Sing for our brothers and sisters. What they themselves sing at the Supernova Sukkot festival in Israel,' he starts. 'We sing for it. Our people, people like us. Music people. People who like to play and be experimental. People like us. We sing for them.'

He continued: "Given what is happening in Israel and Gaza, the song about nir-violence looks ridiculous, even ridiculous, but our prayers are always for peace and without violence."

"But our hearts and anger, you know what that means. So sing with us... and beautiful children at the music festival. Early on October 7, the sun rose in the desert sky. Star Daud, they took your house but they couldn't take your price, "he added, before launching the song.

In the light of what’s happened in Israel and Gaza, 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… pic.twitter.com/S1zfCMNtzz

— U2 (@U2) October 9, 2023

In the light of what's happened in Israel and Gaza, a song about non-violence seems somewhat ridiculous, even toughable, 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... pic.twitter.com/S1zfCMNtzz