Massive Attack banned from Singapore after displaying Palestinian flag onstage

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Set us as preferred The U.K.electronic band Massive Attack has been banned from Singapore because of its pro-Palestinian activism onstage, the group said.

The group unfurled a Palestinian flag during a performance at the Star Theatre in Singapore on July 29.The band said police detained them after the show, and that an investigation led to the band being forbidden from performing in the country.

The nation of Singapore has strict laws against displaying foreign flags or national symbols without a permit.Massive Attack, which consists of Robert “3D” Del Naja and Grant “Daddy G” Marshall, described the event as a “surreal experience” in a post on Instagram.“We were surprised and disappointed that our entire band was detained by the police, isolated and separately questioned – with some members subjected to hotel room searches and temporary passport confiscation,” it read.“Before we set foot on the stage and again at the end of the show, large sections of the auditorium organically led chants of ‘Free Palestine’, presumably aware but undeterred that this spontaneous expression alone could violate their government’s censorship laws.”“For our part,” the statement continued, “we did not imagine that merely holding up the flag of a sovereign state recognised by 157 countries would violate any law.”In a statement issued Saturday, cited by the Guardian, Singapore police and the local Infocomm Media Development Authority said that Del Naja and Marshall had been investigated for “their actions of support for a political cause and unfurling of a foreign flag,” violating Singapore’s Foreign National Emblems (Control of Display) Act and the Public Order Act.

The police said they “take a serious view of acts which could potentially harm the racial and religious harmony in Singapore and urge the p...