French town withdraws Rock-en-Seine music festival funding over Kneecap booking

(left to right) Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh (Mo Chara) wearing a keffiyeh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin (Móglaí Bap), and J. J. Ó Dochartaigh ( DJ Próvaí) from Kneecap performing on stage at London's Finsbury Park. Picture: Jeff Moore/PA Wire

The municipal authority for the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud, which hosts the annual Rock-en-Seine music festival, has decided to withdraw a €40,000 subsidy for the event due to its booking of Irish rap band Kneecap, it said on Thursday.

The Belfast-based Kneecap has drawn criticism because it has displayed pro-Palestine messages during gigs. It is scheduled to play on the final day of the Rock-en-Seine festival, which takes place from August 21 to August 24.

In a statement late on Wednesday, the Saint-Cloud city hall said the money had been agreed before the final line-up of the festival was announced and that it had decided to withdraw the funding on July 3.

The Saint-Cloud 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 lawmakers, whatever their nationality," the statement said.

Rock-en-Seine could not be immediately reached for comment.

Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who is known by his stage name Mo Chara, was charged in May with a terrorism offence for allegedly displaying a flag of Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group that is proscribed as a terrorist organisation in Britain.

He denies the offence and the band says its members do not support Hamas or Hezbollah.