Bono Speaks Out For Peace in Gaza

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2025-05-22)

Contrary to what is being reported elsewhere, Bono did not “break his silence” at the recent Ivor Novello awards on the topic of Gaza. He has been speaking about it for some time. In fact he was one of the first artists to speak about it just hours after the hostages were first taken in October 2023.

His first comments came on October 8, 2023. The Nova music festival in Israel had been attacked by Hamas the previous day, and 378 people were killed and an additional 44 people taken hostage.

It was the next day at Sphere, while news was still reaching the West that Bono first spoke. He spoke about the tragedy at the music festival and asked fans to ““Sing for our brothers and sisters, who they themselves were singing at the Supernova Sukkot festival in Israel. We sing for those people, our people, our kind of people, music people, playful experimental people, our kind of people. We sing for them.”

The band had played “Pride (In the Name of Love)” for the first time the previous night, and Bono shared, “Our songs we hope are useful to you. In the light of what’s happened in Israel and Gaza a song about non-violence seems somewhat ridiculous, even laughable, but our prayers have always for peace, and non-violence. But our hearts and our anger, you know where that’s pointed. So sing with us, and for those beautiful kids at that music festival.”

For the remainder of the shows at Sphere, Bono would often talk about peace. Sometimes more quietly than other nights. Sometimes it was asking people to take a pause to ask fans think about whatever they want to think about. Other nights he spoke about peace. He often included calls for peace in the world, and asking fans for prayers or meditation.

But some nights the message was a little more at the forefront. On December 1, 2023, introducing “Sunday Bloody Sunday” Bono shared “It might seem ridiculous to talk about peace in the Holy Lands right now. It might seem ridiculous. But on our small island of Ireland, we found people who were ready to be ridiculous, to find peace. To put themselves into ridiculous situations to find peace. We’re very grateful to those people who bring peace.” Bono dedicates the song “here’s to the peacemakers, let’s pray they are out there somewhere.”

U2’s shows continued at Sphere into 2024. On February 18, 2024, the band dusted off “Peace on Earth”, a song they had not played since 2001. Bono introduced the song by saying “I think it’s ok to confess in this Sunday service how our religion can so enrage us sometimes. To see what the children of Abraham have been doing to each other, all over the world for millennia, as well as this very day, is bewildering. Christians, Muslims, Jews. It’s bewildering. To see the suffering of the Palestinian children after we saw the suffering of the Israeli children was almost too much. When love looks laughable, I am sure it is the devil that is laughing. And I understand how ridiculous ‘love thy enemy’ sounds right now. We can’t live with ‘love thy neighbor’ even in our band, in our country. But it is a divine command, and not advice. Easy to say, almost impossible to enact.”

Interrupted by screaming in the middle of the speech above he tells the fans to shut up so he can continue his speech and makes it clear he wants people to listen. Bono changes the lyrics for the song, with Edge taking the lead on vocals for the first line: ‘Peace on Earth, we need it now…They’re reading names out over the radio. The folks the rest of us will never get to know. Gal and Ayat, Hind and Mila, their lives are bigger than any big idea. Jesus, can you take the time to throw a drowning man a line, peace on earth…”

Originally the song listed the name of those children killed in the Omagh bombing in Ireland, tonight the names are replaced with children killed in the ongoing war. Hind was a Palestinian girl, just five years old, when she and six of her family members were killed, as well as two paramedics coming to her aid. Hind made the call to be rescued, and her voice was heard pleaing for help for hours. Mila was the name of a young Israeli girl who was shot in her mothers arms on October 7 by Hamas.

After the shows at Sphere finished up, Bono was mostly out of the spotlight. Even fans of the band wondered where he was. During the release of How to Re-Assemble An Atomic Bomb the lack of Bono during promotion was noticeable, and most of the promotional duties were handled by The Edge and Adam Clayton.

Bono wasn’t out of the public eye for long. In The Atlantic in early January 2025, Bono wrote a piece about freedom in a piece called “The Gorgeous Unglamourous Work of Freedom”. It included a discussion of Gaza.

“And then there’s Gaza. Israel’s prime minister for almost 20 years, Benjamin Netanyahu, has often used the defense of Israel’s freedom and its people as an excuse to systematically deny the same freedom and security to the Palestines—a self-defeating and deadly contradiction, which has led to an obscene leveling of civilian life that the world can visualize daily on their cellphones. Freedom must come for the Israeli hostages, whose kidnapping by Hamas ignited this latest cataclysm. Freedom must come for the Palestine people. It does not take a prophet to predict that Israel will never be free until Palestine is free.”

On May 22, 2025, U2 received the Fellowship of the Ivor Novello awards. As part of the acceptance speech Bono spoke once again about Gaza. “I used to introduce this next song by explaining it was not a rebel song. It was because believing in the possibilities of peace was then, and is now, a rebellious act. Some would say a ridiculous one, to believe peace was attainable between your country and ours, between our country and itself was a ridiculous idea that we’re pleased we hold on to very tightly right now. Peace creates possibilities in the most intractable situations. Lord knows there is a few of them out there right now. Hamas release the hostages. Stop the war. Israel be released from Benjamin Netanyahu. From the far right fundamentalists that twist your sacred texts. All of you protect our aid workers, they are the best of us. God, you must be so tired of us children of Abraham, in the rubble of our certainties. Children in the rubble of our revenge. God forgive us.”

During many of the promotional interviews to promote his new film, “Stories of Surrender” the topic has also come up, and Bono has continued to pray for peace. He continues to highlight the plight of those affected, with a focus on the children who are being massacred daily.

At almost every public appearance since the conflict started, Bono has been vocal about the call for peace. He’s highlighted the death and destruction, and has focused on the children being hurt throughout the conflict. He has called for peace. And he’s brought the atrocities faced by the people of Gaza to his audience. So it surprises me to see Sky News claiming “Bono broke his silence on the Gaza war at the Ivor Awards” when he has been speaking about it for years.

< Next News Entry | Previous News Entry >

u2songs.com was formerly known as u2wanderer.org. Follow us on Twitter | Facebook