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Despite being detained by Singaporean authorities for holding a Palestine flag on stage during a concert last week, Massive Attack continued to show their support for Gaza at a concert in Australia
In a video posted by Roya News English yesterday, 13 August, members of the English band can be seen holding Palestine and Australian Aboriginal flags during their Melbourne concert on Wednesday, 12 August.
The display of solidarity comes two weeks after members of the band were detained in Singapore for doing something similar at a concert there.
During their performance at The Star Theatre on 29 July, Robert Del Naja and Grant Marshall unfurled a Palestinian flag near the end of the show while Singaporean fans chanted "Free Palestine".
Following the concert, Massive Attack claimed that some members of their crew had their hotel rooms searched and passports temporarily confiscated.
"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," wrote the trip-hop band on 2 August.
Massive Attack's concert in Singapore on 29 July.
Image via CNAMassive Attack has always been vocal about the idea that music is political
Australian digital music news outlet Noise11 noted that the band has long treated the concert stage as a space for music and ideas.
At Wednesday's concert, the band combined a career-spanning set with an uncompromising audiovisual examination of Gaza, surveillance, capitalism, climate change, Donald Trump, and the concentration of global wealth.
According to the BBC, Singapore has imposed an indefinite ban on Massive Attack following the 29 July incident, barring the band members from re-entering the country and performing there.
Del Naja and Marshall were "given stern warnings" over alleged violations of two laws governing the public display of foreign flags and political expressions at public events.
Massive Attack has since called on the Singaporean government to ratify the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and allow its citizens to express their conscience without fear of state prosecution.
The band's statement has also drawn support from Singaporean fans, with commenters expressing disappointment over the government's decision.
"As a Singaporean let me say, everyone in Singapore is with you and gravely disappointed in our government," read one of the top comments, while another netizen wrote, "You did the RIGHT thing — from Singapore."
