Austin, Texas - Bands and musicians are pulling out of Austin's annual South by Southwest (SXSW) festival to protest the US Army's "super sponsorship" amid the assault on Gaza.

The US Army is one of six "super sponsors" at this year's SXSW, sparking backlash from artists and panelists at odds with the US government's continued supply of weapons and munitions to Israel.

To date, more than 80 musicians and speakers have canceled their planned appearances, the Texas Tribune reported.

"We cannot in good conscience attend an arts festival that has the U.S. Army as a 'super sponsor' and is platforming RTX (formerly Raytheon), Collins Aerospace and BAE Systems, the very companies selling the weapons that have murdered 31,000 Palestinians, over 21,000 of them women and children," Belfast-based band Kneecap wrote on X on Sunday.

Joke of the Day Joke of the Day for November 22, 2024: The best jokes to get your funny on

The cancellation will have a "significant financial impact" for band members, but "it isn't an iota of hardship when compared with the unimageable [sic.] suffering being inflicted every minute of every day on the people of Gaza."

Fellow performers Lambrini Girls, Scowl, Gel, Okay Shalom, Squirrel Flower, and Sprints have also backed out for similar reasons, as have panelists Chris Smalls, president of the Amazon Labor Union, and Ruha Benjamin, a Princeton University professor in the African American Studies department.

"A music festival should not include war profiteers. I refuse to be complicit in this and withdraw my art and labor in protest," Ella Williams, aka Squirrel Flower, shared on Instagram.

"There’s always a right thing to do and it’s almost never as complicated as the establishment wants you to believe. And sometimes it costs you a dream, but a dream is a dream and not a life," said artist Okay Shalom out of Brooklyn.

The news of the SXSW cancellations sparked a dismissive response from Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

The far-right Republican shot back on X: "Bye. Don’t come back."

"We are proud of the U.S. military in Texas," he said. "If you don’t like it, don’t come here."

Joke of the Day Joke of the Night for November 20, 2024: The best jokes to laugh the day away

The festival itself has taken a different tack, writing, "SXSW does not agree with Governor Abbott."

"We are an organization that welcomes diverse viewpoints. Music is the soul of SXSW, and it has long been our legacy. We fully respect the decision these artists made to exercise their right to free speech."

"The defense industry has historically been a proving ground for many of the systems we rely on today. These institutions are often leaders in emerging technologies, and we believe it’s better to understand how their approach will impact our lives."

SXSW runs from March 8-16 in Austin, Texas.