Fontaines D.C. Cancel Istanbul Concert in Solidarity With Palestinian People

Amid the ongoing war in Gaza and mounting calls for a ceasefire, Fontaines D.C. have canceled their upcoming concert at Zorlu PSM in Istanbul in a show of support for the Palestinian people.

With the Irish band set to embark on a tour through Europe and North America later this month, bandmates Grian Chatten, Carlos O’Connell, Conor Curley, Conor Deegan III and Tom Coll had been slated to take the stage at the Turkish venue on Aug. 20. In a group statement posted to Instagram Stories on Thursday (Aug. 1), however, they shared that they’d be pulling out of the performance as part of an ongoing, international call for companies like Zorlu Holding — which owns the performing arts center in question — to divest from Israel.

“To all our wonderful fans in Turkey,” it reads. “Further to conversations with Palestinian artists and human rights activists, we have now decided to cancel our show at Zorlu PSM, Istanbul on Tuesday 20th August. The global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement led by the largest Palestinian coalition, has called on artists to refuse to play Zorlu PSM until Zorlu fully divests from the supply of energy to Israel while it carries out what the International Court of Justice now agrees is plausibly a genocide.

“We were really looking forward to visiting and playing Istanbul, however in this instance, we must be clear in our convictions and put solidarity with the people of Palestine first,” the message continues, with the band pledging full refunds to ticket-holders. “We promise to play in Turkey as soon as we can make it possible.”

According to a post on the BDS committee’s official Instagram — which Fontaines also reshared on Stories — Zorlu owns part of Dorad, a large power plant located in Israel. “A campaign from BDS Turkey has already compelled Zorlu Energy to partially divest from the Israeli energy market,” it reads. “But until it fully divests from the Dorad plant, Zorlu Holdings and all its subsidiaries should be held accountable.”

Israel has been at war with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas since the Oct. 7 attacks, in which 1,200 Israeli people were killed and 250 abducted. Since then, more than 39,000 Palestinian people have been killed by Israel’s forces, according to The Associated Press.