Recommendations of the Editorial team
U2 published a long post on its website, To explain the individual attitudes of the band members to Israel and Gaza. “We are not experts in the politics of the region, but we want our audience know where we are,” wrote the Irish group.
Bonos motivation to the clearer statement
Each band member – Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. – shared an explanation with his thoughts on the ongoing war, which has been on October 7, 2023 since the Hamas attack. Bono noticed that since then he had “generally held out of the Middle East ‘politics”. “It was not modesty, but rather uncertainty in the face of the obvious complexity,” he said. “I wrote about the war in Gaza in the ‘Atlantic’ in the past few months and talked about it in the ‘ObServer’, but I have circled the topic.”
The front man explained that he was now a determined exterior after seeing photos of hungry people in Gaza. “The pictures of hungry children in the Gaza Strip reminded me of a working trip to a meal station in Ethiopia, which my wife Ali and I did 40 years ago next month, after U2’s participation in Live Aid 1985,” he wrote. “Another man -made famine. Experience chronic malnutrition up close would make it personally for every family, especially if it affects children. Because if the loss of non -fighting human life appears so calculated on a large scale … in particular the death of children, then ‘bad’ is not an excessive adjective … in the holy texts of Jews, Christians and Muslims, it is an evil that has to be resisted.”
He emphasized that he did not equate Palestinians with Hamas. “In view of our own historical experience of oppression and occupation, it is no wonder that so many here in Ireland have been standing for justice for the Palestinian people for decades,” wrote Bono.
Criticism of both warring parties
He added: “We know that Hamas starts hunger as a weapon in the war, but now I do this, and I feel disgust in view of the moral failure. The government of Israel is not the nation of Israel, but today’s government of Israel, under Benjamin Netanyahu, deserves our category and unmistakable conviction. Government have added to the Palestinian people … in Gaza … in West Bank. “
Bono said he wanted to make U2’s attitude transparent. “As someone who believed in Israel’s right to existence for a long time and supported a two-state solution, I would like to make it clear to everyone who listens that our band Netanyahus condemns immoral actions and complied with everyone who has asked for an end to hostilities on both sides,” he wrote. “Our band is in solidarity with the people of Palestine, which really looks for peace and coexistence with Israel, and with their lawful and legitimate claims to statehood. We are in solidarity with the remaining hostages and pleading that someone negotiates their release with reason.”
Specific support for Gaza
Bono confirmed that U2 will donate to support the help in Gaza. “The band undertakes to make our contribution by donating to Medical Aid for Palestinian,” he said.
The other three explanations are shorter, but also decided and clear. The Edge asked the Israeli government and Netanyahu three questions, including: “Do you really think that such a deliberate and incessant destruction of a civilian population can happen without those who are responsible to bring interdisciplinary shame?”
The Edge and Larry Mullen Jr. about peace
“We know from our own experience in Ireland that peace is not achieved through dominance,” wrote The Edge. “Peace arises when people sit down at a table with their opponents – if they acknowledge the same dignity of all, including those who once feared or despised. There can be no peace without justice. No reconciliation without recognition. And no future if we do not refuse to repeat the past.”
Mullen Jr. added: “The power to end this obscenity is in the hands of Israel. I undoubtedly support Israel’s right to existence, and I also believe that Palestinians earn the same right and its own state. None of us serve.”
Adam Clayton: “Once you ignore the moral side of the situation, the technical superiority of the modern Israeli army is not proof of its precision in combating individual people from thousands of kilometers away? And if so, why does the IDF then bomb the civilian population and destroy all accommodations and infrastructures? A decision. “
Bonos former peace appeal
In May, Bono asked the Ivor Novello Awards 2025 to end the war between Israel and Hamas. During the award ceremony in the London Grosvenor House, Bono took the opportunity to criticize Hamas and Netanyahu. “Hamas, leave the hostages free. Stop the war,” he said. “Israel, frees you from Benjamin Netanyahu and right -wing extremist fundamentalists who twist your holy texts. Protect all of our helpers, they are the best of us.”