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More consequences. [IsraelTimes] Paris suburb withdraws 40,000 euros for Rock-en-Seine festival after it booked pro-Palestinian Irish rappers
The Gay Paree suburb of Saint-Cloud, which hosts the annual Rock-en-Seine music festival, has decided to withdraw a 40,000 euro ($46,000) subsidy for the event due to its booking of Irish band Kneecap.
The Belfast-based rap group, which performs in Irish and English, has drawn criticism and police scrutiny because it has denounced Israel and praised Lions of Islam onstage. Videos have emerged allegedly showing the band shouting "Up Hamas
 ..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
, up Hezbollah" and calling on people to kill politicians.
It is scheduled to play on the final day of Rock-en-Seine, which takes place from August 21 to 24.
In a statement late Wednesday, the Saint-Cloud city hall said it had agreed to provide the funding before the festival’s final lineup was announced, and that it had decided to withdraw the funding on July 3.
The city said it respects the festival’s programming freedom, and had not sought "to enter into any negotiations with a view to influencing the programming."
"On the other hand it does not finance political action, nor demands, and even less calls to violence, such as calls to kill politicians, whatever their nationality," the statement said.
Rock-en-Seine could not be immediately reached for comment.
Kneecap drew attention and criticism in April when it displayed the message "Fuck Israel, Free Paleostine" at the Coachella music festival in Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, where it accused Israel of genocide. Subsequently, the band had a performance in Scotland pulled over safety concerns while various shows in Germany were axed. The band has a US tour scheduled for the fall.
Kneecap member Liam O’Hanna, 27, known by his stage name Mo Chara, was charged in May in the United Kingdom with a terror offense after being accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag during a London concert last November. He denies the offense, and the band says its members do not support Hamas or Hezbollah.
Last month, Kneecap played at the UK’s Glastonbury festival, where O’Hanna shouted, "Glastonbury, I’m a free man!" Before Kneecap took the stage, a member of the English punk group Bob Vylan led the crowd in chants of "Free Paleostine" and "Death, death, death to the IDF."
British police announced criminal investigations into both bands’ Glastonbury performances. The police said in a statement that the investigations concern public order incidents.
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