of Montreal Pull Out Of Israeli Festival

David A. Smith/Getty Images

of Montreal Pull Out Of Israeli Festival

David A. Smith/Getty Images

of Montreal have pulled out of the Israeli Meteor Festival, which is scheduled to take place this weekend in Tel Aviv.

“After exhausting all of the different possible ways of justifying playing an Israeli party festival, while the political and military leaders of the country continue their murderous and brutal policies against the Palestinian people, we came to the realization that there is no actual appropriate move other than to cancel the show,” the band wrote in a statement on their Facebook page. It continues:

Now is not the time for escapism and celebrations. Now is the time for activism and protests against Israeli apartheid, Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the human rights atrocities being carried out everyday in Gaza by Israeli forces. We have so much love for the peace loving Israeli people and an equal amount of love for the peace loving Palestinians. This is in no way an indictment of the Israeli people in general. We simply cannot turn a blind eye to this crisis. To ignore the call to stand up in support of an oppressed group of humans is one of the worst things one can do.

of Montreal have played in Israel previously, most recently at Tel Aviv’s Barby Club in 2014.

They’re not the only ones to cancel their performances at Meteor Festival in the last week: Lana Del Rey also postponed her Israel show, saying that she would return when she could also schedule a show in Palestine, as well. Shlomo, DJ Python, and Volvox have also recently pulled out of the festival.

Meteor Festival is scheduled to take place from 9/6-9/8.

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