Hungary bans pro-Palestinian band Kneecap
The Northern Irish rap band Kneecap will not be allowed to perform at Budapest's Sziget Festival in August. Hungary's government justified the decision saying they spread 'antisemitic hate speech, which supports terrorism and terrorists.' The immigration authorities have now imposed a three-year entry ban on the band members. The move is causing quite a stir in Hungary.
Incitement as a business model
Film director Anna Erzsébet Rácz observes the kneecap phenomenon in Index with concern:
“Collective chanting of slogans, which often degenerates into hate speech and incitement, is a successful business model that is sold like a drug at music festivals. ... Who cares about Gaza here? What is actually happening in the Middle East is too complex an issue. But the claim that Israel is committing genocide is an extremely simple message that can easily be used to influence the masses. ... And I am sure that Kneecap will also benefit greatly from the tsunami of hatred that is currently sweeping through Hungary as a result of the ban. Perhaps Tamás Kádár, the main organiser of the Sziget Festival, was right and there is no good solution in this case.”
Double standards on antisemitism
The government doesn't always stick to its own arguments, criticises Telex:
“You don't have to go very far back in time to start doubting Orbán's claims. Because just two months ago former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whom the Israeli embassy denounced as a 'self-declared Holocaust denier' two years ago, gave a lecture at the National University of Public Service [in Budapest] for the second year in a row. The government would have had every reason to ban Ahmadinejad from the country as well.”