French town withdraws festival funding over Kneecap appearance
Police said they are also investigating videos allegedly showing calls for the death of British lawmakers.
The Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud approved a €40,000 subsidy this year for the Rock En Seine festival that last year attracted 180,000 people over four days.
The town council said the money had been agreed before the lineup was announced. Kneecap are to appear at the event on August 24th. Saint-Cloud said its council had now voted to withdraw the subsidy.
A statement said the town, 'finances, within its means, a cultural and artistic project. On the other hand it does not finance political action, nor demands, and even less calls to violence, such as calls to kill lawmakers, whatever their nationality.'
The town said it respects the festival's 'freedom' to decide its lineup and had not sought 'any kind of negotiation with the aim of influencing the programme'.
Advertisement
Kneecap have been taken off the bill for festivals in Scotland and Germany this year because of the controversy.
The group have said they are committed to the Palestinian cause but have denied any terrorism connection.
Singer Liam O'Hanna, who appears under the name Mo Chara, has condemned the charges against him as political. O'Hanna is to appear in court again four days before the Rock En Seine show.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
4 minutes ago
- LeMonde
Trial ordered for deadly 1982 attack on Paris Jewish restaurant
There will be six defendants, four of whom will be tried in absentia. On Thursday, July 31, the investigating judge ordered a trial for the six individuals before a specially constituted criminal court. They are each accused of participating in the antisemitic attack on Rue des Rosiers in Paris, on August 9, 1982, leaving six dead in and in front of a Jewish restaurant. The trial has not yet been scheduled and will be held in the presence of only two of the defendants: Walid Abou Zayed, a 66-year-old Norwegian of Palestinian origin who is thought to be one of the gunmen and has been held in France since 2020, and Hazza Taha, who is suspected of having hiden weapons and is currently under conditional release. Hicham Harb (real name Mahmoud Khader Abed Adra), Nizar Tawfiq Hamada, Amjad Atta (real name Souhair Al-Abassi), and Nabil Othmane are the four other defendants. The first two are living in the West Bank, the others in Jordan and Kuwait, respectively. The authorities in these countries and territories have either refused to extradite them or have not responded to the French international arrest warrants. All four remain wanted.
LeMonde
5 hours ago
- LeMonde
France carries out aid airdrop in Gaza
President Emmanuel Macron said Friday, August 1, France had carried out its first airdrop of humanitarian supplies into Gaza, after UN-backed experts warned the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian territory was slipping into famine. "Faced with an urgent humanitarian crisis, we just conducted a food airdrop over Gaza," Macron said in English on X. "But airdrops are not enough. Israel must grant full humanitarian access to address the risk of famine," he said. He thanked France's Jordanian, Emirati, and German partners for their support. Several tonnes of food supplies will be delivered to Gaza "over several days," the French foreign and defense ministries said in a joint statement. "France is also working on land transport, by far the most effective solution for the large-scale and unhindered delivery of humanitarian goods desperately needed by the population," the statement added. France will air-drop 40 tonnes of aid into Gaza from Friday, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said earlier this week. Concern has escalated in the past week about hunger in the Gaza Strip after more than 21 months of war, which started after Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a deadly attack against Israel in October 2023.
Euronews
8 hours ago
- Euronews
France drops 40 tonnes of humanitarian aid in Gaza as crisis worsens
Forty tonnes of humanitarian aid were dropped this Friday to help the residents of Gaza, who are facing severe hunger, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said, calling for the Strip to be "flooded with water, food and medicine". Speaking to French radio Franceinfo, he highlighted the scale of the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave. "There's not a minute left to lose," Barrot said. France's top diplomat acknowledged that this aid was "insufficient" to meet the needs of the population. On Tuesday, Barrot had mentioned "four flights carrying 10 tonnes of food each", implying that four rotations would be carried out. Humanitarian airdrops resumed on Sunday, after the Israeli army announced a pause in the fighting. The first flights airdropping much-needed aid were carried out by Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. The UK was the first European country to take part, followed by Germany, Belgium and now France, which have all set up an "air route" via Jordan. Reopen all access routes, Barrot says A World Health Organisation report published on Thursday warned of the dramatic famine facing Gaza. Since the beginning of July, 5,000 children under the age of 5 have been admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition. Sixty-three children have died of starvation. Barrot described the situation as "absolutely intolerable". The French foreign minister also denounced the restrictions imposed by Israel on the entry of humanitarian aid. He claimed that "52 tonnes (of aid) have been waiting for months just a few kilometres from the Gaza Strip". "The Israeli government must now reopen all access routes - air, land and sea - to allow unhindered and massive access of humanitarian aid to the civilian populations who need it so badly". At the same time, a rare visit by US envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to take place in the Gaza Strip. He will be inspecting humanitarian aid distribution sites and meeting locals. The purpose of this mission is to "report back to the president (...) to approve a final plan for the distribution of aid", according to the White House spokeswoman.
