The Murder Capital’s German Shows Axed for Displaying Palestinian Flag

As Northern Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap face controversy for their overt support of Palestine, so too has Irish post-punk group The Murder Capital, who have seen two German shows cancelled due to their display of the Palestinian flag onstage.

The group were scheduled to perform at Berlin venue Gretchen on Saturday (May 10), though the event was reportedly cancelled after discussions with the band about their habit of flying the Palestinian flag onstage during their live performances.

In response to the cancellation, The Murder Capital offered a spoken statement from outside the venue while holding the Palestinian flag. “We pulled into Berlin this morning. We had no idea that we weren’t allowed to fly this flag here today,” they explained.

“We discussed it for an hour at length, what we should do. We came to the decision that we were not going to take the flag off the stage,” they continued. “That was a decision pretty easily made, but we discussed possible outcomes; ‘What if they decide to cancel the show?’”

According to the band, after deciding to go ahead with displaying the flag onstage, they were told they could not do so, nor could they replace the flag with a banner that read “Free Palestine.”

“It’s not just about national flags. It’s about political statements,” they continued. “And to us this isn’t just a political statement, it’s a humanitarian statement. We’ve been saying that in interviews for the whole time that we’ve been speaking about it as people. It’s not all about politics, it’s about people who are dying and being slaughtered every day, and that’s happening right now. 

“So, for us as a band, Who’s had this flag on their stage for countless shows now. It would be the wrong thing for us to do to take it off the stage just so that the venue is kept happy. We don’t agree with that. We don’t agree. We spoke earlier today about this, about how we wish live music and art and theater could be free of political discussion and things like that, but as the world as it is, unfortunately it just cannot be. 

“That’s the way it is, so we’ll be back to you as soon as we can,” they concluded. “We appreciate all your support deeply. But most importantly, free Palestine.”

Germany upholds strict laws in regard to antisemitism, with The Hollywood Reporter having noted that last year’s edition of the Berlin Film Festival urged attendees to wear clothes or symbols showing solidarity with Palestine, but urged caution in regard to the usage of certain language for fear that it may fall into the category of language considered prohibited hate speech.

In response to the cancellation of their show, The Murder Capital instead performed an acoustic set outside of Berlin venue Obentrautstraße 19. 

The band had intended to again fly the Palestinian flag at their subsequent show in Cologne on Sunday (May 11), though they later confirmed the gig at Gebäude 9 was similarly cancelled, with an acoustic performance at Rheinpark taking place instead.

“We arrived into Cologne this morning hoping that what happened in Berlin yesterday would be an isolated incident, but tonight’s venue Gebäude 9 has also told us that we cannot have the Palestinian flag on our stage,” the band explained in a video shared to social media.

“The Palestinian flag itself needs to be on our stage and needs to be as visible everywhere in the world as possible,” they added. “These people are being eradicated, being starved, being bombed, and these war crimes and this genocide is being committed by the Israeli state and funded and supported by governments around the world. 

“Us having a flag on our stage at a rock show is not a political statement. It is a human reaction to a horrific and unimaginable situation. But this is not history, it is happening right now today.”

The Murder Capital’s cancelled German performances aren’t an isolated incident. In April, fresh from the controversy surrounding the pro-Palestine and anti-Israel sentiments projected during their Coachella set, Kneecap were removed from the lineup of the Hurricane and Southside festivals in June, with their headline dates in Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg for September soon being axed as well.