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Massive Attack<\/a> will not be allowed to perform in Singapore after the band reportedly flew a Palestinian flag and joined the crowd in a \u201cFree Palestine\u201d chant during a July 29 show at the city-state\u2019s State Theater. In a statement<\/a> shared to Instagram today, August 2, the band said they were \u201csurprised and disappointed\u201d by the authorities\u2019 response, writing: \u201cFor our part, we did not imagine that merely holding up the flag of a sovereign state recognized by 157 countries (Palestine) would violate any law.\u201d<\/p>\n The decision is tied to Singapore\u2019s policies on public speech, which prohibit publicly displaying foreign national emblems without a permit or exemption. In 2023, the city-state\u2019s Ministry of Home Affairs shared a release<\/a> specifically discouraging citizens from wearing or displaying articles that address the Israel-Palestine conflict. \u201cThe peace and harmony between different races and religions in Singapore should not be taken for granted, and we must not let events happening externally affect this peace and harmony we have in Singapore,\u201d it noted.<\/p>\n According to the band\u2019s statement, they were \u201cdetained by the police, isolated, and separately questioned\u201d following their performance; the group also reported some band members being subject to passport confiscation and hotel room searches. Massive Attack say that the \u201cFree Palestine\u201d chants in question were \u201corganically led\u201d by members of the audience.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are proud to have made this impromptu expression with our fans in Singapore who clearly felt a moral imperative to show solidarity with the people of Palestine in their ongoing reality of illegal occupation, apartheid, and genocide, and we salute their courage in doing so,\u201d the band wrote. \u201cRight across the world, the continued inaction of the \u2018international\u2019 community is moving citizens to personal risk.\u201d<\/p>\n Massive Attack have long been vocal supporters of Palestinian self-determination. In April, Dej Naja was arrested at a London protest<\/a> in support of Palestine Action, an activist group that has been designated a terrorist organization<\/a> in the United Kingdom. Del Naja was one of 500 protestors, and pictures showed him holding a sign that read \u201cI oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.\u201d Del Naja and his bandmate, Grant Marshall, were also early adopters of the No Music for Genocide<\/a> campaign, which calls on artists and labels to geo-block their music from streaming in Israel.<\/p>\n Read Massive Attack\u2019s full statement below.<\/p>\n Following our performance at the Star Theatre, Singapore on 29th July, we were surprised and disappointed that our entire band was detained by the police, isolated, and separately questioned\u2014with some members subjected to hotel room searches and temporary passport confiscation.<\/em><\/p>\n Before we set foot on the stage and again at the end of the show, large sections of the auditorium organically led chants of \u201cFree Palestine\u201d presumably aware but undeterred that this spontaneous expression alone could violate their government\u2019s censorship laws.<\/em><\/p>\n For our part, we did not imagine that merely holding up the flag of a sovereign state recognised by 157 countries (Palestine) would violate any law.<\/em><\/p>\n On reflection, we are proud to have made this impromptu expression with our fans in Singapore who clearly felt a moral imperative to show solidarity with the people of Palestine in their ongoing reality of illegal occupation, apartheid, and genocide, and we salute their courage in doing so. Right across the world, the continued inaction of the \u201cinternational community\u201d is moving citizens to personal risk.<\/em><\/p>\n This surreal experience was a reminder of the importance of defending universal human rights and freedom of expression wherever those rights are threatened, including at home in the UK where, extraordinarily, we still see peaceful protestors arrested under terrorism laws for holding up handwritten signs protesting genocide\u2014despite appeals from all sides of the political spectrum.<\/em><\/p>\n We\u2019re grateful to the people of Singapore who made us feel so welcome, and hope that the Government of Singapore will choose to ratify the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and allow their citizens expressions of conscience without fear of state prosecution.<\/em><\/p>\n As we were saying \u2026 Free Palestine.<\/em><\/p>\n xM<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n