By Seyma Yigit
A Paris suburb has withdrawn public funding from a major music festival following the inclusion of an Irish band known for its support of Palestine.
The Saint-Cloud municipal council voted July 3 to revoke a €40,000 ($47,000) grant for the Rock en Seine festival, set to take place from Aug. 20 - 24.
The move came after the announcement that the Irish group, Kneecap, which has publicly expressed solidarity with Palestine, would perform at the festival.
Saint-Cloud Mayor Eric Berdoati defended the decision during a council meeting. “We subsidize cultural activities, not political ones,” he said.
The decision has sparked political backlash.
Opposition figures accused the mayor of yielding “to the demands of his conservative voter base.”
Israel has killed nearly 57,800 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has devastated the enclave and led to food shortages and the spread of disease.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.