The western Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud has rescinded a €40,000 (nearly $46,500) subsidy for next month’s Rock en Seine rock music festival following the booking of Northern Irish rap group Kneecap.
The town council announced that the decision, made on July 3, was a direct response to Kneecap’s inclusion in the festival’s final lineup.
Kneecap has attracted controversy for its harsh criticism of Israel during live performances. The band, based in Belfast, is scheduled to play on the festival’s final day. The event runs from August 20-24.
Saint-Cloud’s town hall emphasized that while it supports cultural programming, it will not finance political action or incitement to violence. According to local officials, the funding agreement was reached before the full festival lineup was confirmed.
Rock en Seine director Mathieu Ducos was quoted by NME as saying that “when we programmed them last autumn, they weren’t the talk of the town, except for good reasons. I hope that the history we’ve managed to build and weave together doesn’t end with this dispute and the vision we have of this group.”
Kneecap member Mo Chara was charged with a terrorism offense last month in the United Kingdom, accused of waving the flag of Hezbollah, the terrorist organization based in Lebanon, at a concert last year. This has led to a string of performance cancellations. The rapper, who wore a keffiyeh to court, has been released on bail.
The band made headlines in April after projecting “F**k Israel, free Palestine” at the Coachella music festival in California.
The charge comes amid renewed scrutiny after two controversial videos resurfaced online on April 22. One shows a band member shouting, “The only good Tory is a dead Tory!” and “Kill your local MP!” In another, Mo Chara is seen wearing a Hezbollah flag and yelling, “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah!”
Kneecap has denied supporting terrorist groups or advocating violence, claiming that it does not “support proscribed terror organizations” or “advocate for violence against anyone.”
