{"id":69782,"date":"2026-08-03T06:58:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T06:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/03\/massive-attack-respond-to-being-banned-from-singapore\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T06:58:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T06:58:29","slug":"massive-attack-respond-to-being-banned-from-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/03\/massive-attack-respond-to-being-banned-from-singapore\/","title":{"rendered":"Massive Attack Respond to Being Banned From Singapore"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tMassive Attack<\/a> have spoken out after two band members were banned from Singapore<\/a> for displaying the Palestinian flag onstage during a concert. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFollowing 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 \u2013 with some members subjected to hotel room searches and temporary passport confiscation,\u201d\u00a0the band wrote in a post<\/a> on Instagram on Sunday. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBefore we set foot on the stage and again at the end of the show, large sections of the auditorium organically led chants of \u2018Free Palestine<\/a>,\u2019 presumably aware but undeterred that this spontaneous expression alone could violate their government\u2019s censorship laws. For our part, we did not imagine that merely holding up the flag of a sovereign state recognized by 157 countries would violate any law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThey continued, \u201cOn 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 \u2018international community\u2019 is moving citizens to personal risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tThe band added that the \u201csurreal experience\u201d was a \u201creminder 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 \u2013 despite appeals from all sides of the political spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe post concluded by thanking \u201cthe people of Singapore who made us feel so welcome.\u201d The band added they hope \u201cthe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tFollowing the band\u2019s concert in Singapore on Wednesday night, local authorities confirmed the police and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) had opened a probe against them for reportedly waving a Palestinian flag onstage and leading the audience in a \u201cFree Palestine\u201d chant.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Saturday, authorities confirmed that band members Robert Del Naja and Grant Marshall\u00a0were \u201cbanned from re-entering Singapore\u201d\u00a0 and that any future applications for them to perform there would not be approved.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile Singapore\u2019s national stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict is belief in a \u201ctwo-state solution\u201d and allowing Palestine to join the United Nations, the country has still clamped down on \u201cthe public display and wearing of articles\u201d in relation to the Gaza war, Singapore\u2019s home affairs ministry said in 2023 (via the BBC<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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\n\t\u201cWe must not let events happening externally affect this peace and harmony we have in Singapore,\u201d the home affairs ministry said at the time. Additionally, the Singapore government has barred the public display of foreign national emblems \u2014 like the Palestinian flag \u2014without a permit or exemption, which the band reportedly did not have. The statement on Saturday noted that Del Naja and Marshall were investigated for \u201ctheir actions of support for a political cause and unfurling of a foreign flag.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tMassive Attack are among the more vocal supporters of Palestine in the music scene. Earlier this year, frontman Robert Del Naja was arrested at a London demonstration<\/a> for the cause. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n