Massive Attack have been banned from Singapore after breaking one of the country’s strict rules at a recent concert.
On Wednesday, two members of the British band held up a Palestinian flag and chanted ‘free Palestine’ along with some members of the audience.
Following this, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) banned Massive Attack from future entry for breaking two laws that ban the display of foreign flags in public without a permit or exemption.
An SPF spokeswoman told the BBC that the two band members, who have not been named, had been given a ‘stern warning’ about their behaviour, which allegedly violated Section 3 of the Foreign National Emblems (Control of Display) Act 1949 and Section 16 of the Public Order Act.
The SPF said they ‘take a serious view of acts which could potentially harm the racial and religious harmony in Singapore.
The peace and harmony between different races and religions in Singapore should not be taken for granted, and we must not let external events affect our society.’
Singapore’s media regulator – Infocomm Media Development Authority – has also said it will not grant Massive Attack any future applications to perform in the country.
Massive Attack arecurrently on a world tour with their next show due to be held in Seoul, South Korea on Saturday.
The band is well known for its political activism and has been highly critical of Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
As such, they’ve refused to perform in Israel since 1999 as a ‘form of non-violent pressure’ and have expressed support for other bands boycotting events with links to Israel.
They’ve also called for their music to be removed from streaming platforms in Israel as part of the No Music For Genocide campaign.
Massive Attack have also supported the campaign to free the imprisoned Marwan Barghouti – a Palestinian political leader who’s been jailed since 2002.
Barghouti’s son, Arab Barghouti, has appeared on stage at several of the band’s concerts to talk about his father and Palestine.
Meanwhile, Robert Del Naja, a member of Massive Attack, was among 500 arrested at a Palestine Action protest earlier this year in London.
Del Naja was accused of showing support for Palestine Action, which was controversially proscribed as a terrorist group on July 5 2025.
Metro has contacted Massive Attack for comment.
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