Hozier: Watch as Leeds Festival headliner gives impassioned speech calling for 'peace' in Palestine
Leeds Festival headliner Hozier received a huge reception after delivering an impassioned speech calling for “peace, safety and security for everybody in the Middle East”.
The Irish singer-songwriter topped the billing on the Saturday night of the Bramham Park event following a much-anticipated set from American star Chappell Roan, which drew a huge crowd to the site.
There was some trepidation that the audience would be noticeably thinner, but it was not the case as the ‘Take Me To Church’ singer triumphed with a raw performance to the packed-out field.
Ahead of the penultimate track, ‘Nina Cried Power’, which was originally recorded with Mavis Staples, the County Wicklow-born troubadour, born Andrew Hozier-Byrne, addressed the crowd about the history of activism in music, referencing artists including Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie and Nina Simone.
In an eloquent speech that you can watch in the video above, he highlighted collective rights earned over the years as the large band played behind him.
“It’s so easy to take these for granted and forget how much work and how much effort had to be fought to gain these things”, he said.
He encouraged the audience to use their “free speech, purchasing power and democratic voices” to “support peace, safety and security for everybody in the Middle East” and call for “a meaningful and lasting ceasefire and a meaningful, good-faith solution”.
Hozier continued: “I believe they (politicians) would want that for people they know.
“I believe that people would not want to see members of their community live in the fear of hatred or racism. They wouldn’t want to see their Jewish neighbours live in fear of anti-Semitism or our Muslim brothers and sisters living in fear of xenophobia.”
It comes following the announcement that famine is widespread in Gaza by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
The famine determination by the world’s leading authority on food crises galvanised governments and aid groups to intensify their pleas for Israel to halt its 22-month offensive on Gaza, prompted by Hamas’ attacks on October 7 2023.
Hozier said: “Peace and safety and security for everybody in the Middle East means that either Palestine gets freed from these cycles of genocide, these cycles of ethnic cleansing and the imposed starvation of women and children that we’re seeing on our TV screens at the moment.”
He went on to share his support for the activist group Palestine Action, which was deemed a terrorist organisation after vandalising a plane at an RAF base, and fellow Irish musicians that have spoken out about the conflict, such as Kneecap and The Mary Wallopers, whose set at Victorious Festival in Portsmouth was cut short on Friday after they displayed a Palestine flag.
He concluded: “I want to thank you for letting me speak from the heart for a moment and thank you for letting me see the goodness in everyday solidarity and everyday goodwill that I experience here in Leeds.
“If there’s anyway you want to support this cause with your voice purchasing power or your vote I so, so encourage you to do so. Thank you so much.”
Hozier gave a similar address to the crowd at Reading Festival the night before, which was cut from the live coverage on the BBC.
There was a number of artists across the Saturday of the festival sharing their support for the people of Palestine, including Soft Play and The Linda Lindas.