Irish rap group Kneecap repeated their criticism of Israel's war in Gaza during a performance outside Paris on Sunday, despite objections from French Jewish groups and government officials.
The group's set at the annual Rock en Seine festival, which began shortly before 6:30pm local time in front of thousands of people in the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud, went ahead despite complaints from the Belfast trio's critics.
"Free, free Palestine!," the group shouted at the start of their show, rallying an enthusiastic crowd where keffiyehs and Irish jerseys were visible, before insisting they were not against Israel.
Ahead of the show, the French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said the authorities would be vigilant for "any comments of an antisemitic nature, apology for terrorism, or incitement to hatred" at the event.
During their performance, Kneecap displayed a backdrop in French that said: "The French government is complicit", accusing it of facilitating the sale of weapons to Israel. They posted a photo of the message on social media.
The performance was briefly interrupted as several individuals whistled in protest until security removed protesters from the crowd.
After Rock en Seine organisers kept the politically outspoken Kneecap on the programme, local authorities withdrew their subsidies for the music festival where the gig took place.
Kneecap use their concerts to canvass for the Palestinian cause and criticise Israel.
Kneecap's Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was charged in England in May, accused of displaying a flag of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah during a London concert in November.
He denies the offence and the band says its members do not support Hamas or Hezbollah. The case has been adjourned until 26 September.
Kneecap played a closely scrutinised and highly controversial set at the Glastonbury Festival in June.
The group later missed playing at the Sziget Festival in Budapest after being barred from entering the country by the Hungarian authorities, a close ally of Israel.
Ahead of Kneecap's Rock en Seine set, the municipality of Saint-Cloud withdrew its €40,000 subsidy from the festival for the first time.
The wider Île-de-France region, which includes Paris, also cancelled its funding for the 2025 edition.
However, such moves did not jeopardise the viability of the festival, whose budget was between €16 million and €17 million this year.
Kneecap have already played twice in France this summer - at the Eurockéennes festival in Belfort and the Cabaret Vert in Charleville-Mézières - both times without incident.
Kneecap's Sunday concert came against a background of concerns about alleged high levels of antisemitism in France in the wake of Palestinian militant group Hamas's 7 October, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, and Israel's devastating retaliatory assault on the Hamas-ruled territory.
"They are desecrating the memory of the 50 French victims of Hamas on October 7, as well as all the French victims of Hezbollah," said Yonathan Arfi, President of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), who had called for Kneecap's concert to be cancelled.
On Sunday, Charles Kushner, the US Ambassador to Paris, sparked a diplomatic row after a letter he wrote to the French President Emmanuel Macron criticised what he said was France's insufficient action against antisemitism.
Kneecap have just announced a further four concerts in Paris on 8 and 9 September at Le Trianon and on 10 and 11 November at L'Élysée Montmartre.
Source: AFP
