Banned from Singapore for waving Palestinian flag, band Massive Attack describe ‘surreal experience’

British band Massive Attack said Sunday they experienced “a surreal experience” in Singapore, where its members were detained by the police and then banned from entering for having waved a Palestinian flag during a concert held on Wednesday. The trip-hop outfit made up of Robert Del Naja (3D) and Grant Marshall (Daddy G), currently on tour, were performing at the Star Theater in Singapore when the musicians unfurled a Palestinian flag on stage and chanted the slogan “Free Palestine”.

Following an investigation into “support for a political cause” and for showing a “foreign flag”, the local police indicated, after consulting the prosecution, that they had “issued stern warnings to both men” and forbidding them from returning to Singapore. The city-state, known for its strict laws on freedom of speech and assembly, prohibits the public display of foreign flags without permission.

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“Surprised and disappointed »

In a post shared on social media on Sunday, the group said “surprised and disappointed” of the way he was treated by the authorities.

Its members were “detained by police, isolated and interrogated separately, while some suffered searches of their hotel rooms and temporary confiscation of their passports”, we can read. “We did not imagine that the simple fact of waving the flag of a sovereign state recognized by 157 countries (Palestine) could violate any law”, adds the group, describing a “surreal experience”.

Massive Attack also praised the “courage” spectators, who according to the group had chanted slogans “Free Palestine” before he even enters the stage, despite the risks “to break their government’s censorship laws.”. “We are proud to have shared this spontaneous expression with our fans in Singapore, who clearly felt a moral imperative to show solidarity with the Palestinian people.”, he wrote.

Acts “harmful to racial and religious harmony in Singapore”

“Although the event organizer was aware of the licensing conditions in advance, during the concert two band members waved a foreign flag on stage, and one of them also shouted Free Palestine.”, the police said on Friday. In this same press release, the Singapore Police Force and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) specified that they were taking“take very seriously acts that may undermine racial and religious harmony in Singapore” and urging the public, including foreigners, “to refrain from importing foreign political considerations, as this may undermine our social cohesion and the rule of law.”

Massive Attack is one of the groups most committed to the Palestinian cause. In April, Robert Del Naja, 61, had already been arrested with several hundred people during a demonstration in London in support of “Palestine Action”, an organization banned by the British authorities.