U2’s Bono sings tribute to festival victims

JTA – The original lyrics of U2’s hit song Pride (In the Name of Love) were about Martin Luther King Jr. But on Sunday night, 8 October, the band’s singer, Bono, changed some of the song’s lyrics to pay tribute to Israeli victims of Hamas attacks.

In a break in the performance of the song at the newly-opened Sphere venue outside of Las Vegas, Bono mentioned the Supernova music festival by name. More than 250 festival-goers at the event held in the desert in southern Israel were killed on Saturday as Hamas militants opened fire and sought to take many hostages.

“We sing for those, our people, our kind of people – music people, playful, experimental people,” said the 22-time Grammy-winner, who has for decades been an anti-war activist who has commented on conflict around the world.

He then sang an altered verse dedicated to the victims: “Early morning, October 7/Sun is rising in the desert sky/Stars of David, they took your life/They could not take your pride.”

The original verse references King’s assassination in Memphis on 4 April 1968.

Bono wasn’t the only celebrity to comment on the weekend’s violence. Madonna, who is known to be a student of Kabbalah, posted a graphic video to Instagram showing footage of Hamas violence. She wrote a long caption, including, “My heart goes out to Israel. To families and homes that have been destroyed. To children who are lost. To innocent victims who have been killed.”

Other celebrities to post messages of support for Israel include Israeli Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot; Zoey Deutch; Jamie Lee Curtis; Amy Schumer; Kylie Jenner; Jennifer Love Hewitt; Sarah Michelle Gellar; Mandy Moore; and Sofia Richie, the daughter of Lionel Richie, who converted to Judaism before marrying her Jewish husband.

On Instagram, Jewish comedian Sarah Silverman re-posted a note aimed at activists and others who have celebrated Hamas’ violence. Broadway star and Grammy-winner Josh Groban re-posted a note from Israeli-American composer Or Matias, who was music director for the hit show Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, which starred Groban. Matias said that he has been “vocally critical of Israel’s government” but those who are silent in the wake of the attacks “aren’t purely pro-peace. You are anti-Israel.”