Three bands — The Last Dinner Party, Cliffords and The Academic — announced they would not perform at the Portsmouth Victorious festival after an incident in which The Mary Wallopers had their set interrupted over a chant described by organisers as discriminatory. Organisers later issued an apology to the band and pledged to make a substantial donation to humanitarian relief efforts for the Palestinian people. The Last Dinner Party declared a boycott, decrying political censorship and urging donations to Medical Aid for Palestinians amid reports of catastrophic famine in Gaza. A Victorious spokesperson said staff had raised the festival's no-flags policy and that the artist chose to stop the song.
"We are outraged by the decision made to silence The Mary Wallopers yesterday at Victorious. As a band we cannot cosign political censorship and will therefore be boycotting the festival today." "As Gazans are deliberately plunged into catastrophic famine after two years of escalating violence it is urgent and obvious that artists use their platform to draw attention to the cause. To see an attempt to direct attention away from the genocide in order to maintain an apolitical image is immensely disappointing."
"Throughout this summer we have used our stages to encourage our audiences to donate even a drink's worth of money to Medical Aid for Palestinians, and today we urge you more than ever to do the same." "We are so deeply sorry to our fans who were looking forward to seeing us today, and we are devastated to be put in this position that upsets both us and you. Free Palestine."
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