Irish band Fontaines D.C. targets Israel at Barcelona festival

At Primavera Sound, band projects Palestinian flag, slogans accusing Israel of “genocide”

By David Brummer, World Israel News

Irish post-punk band Fontaines D.C. used their set at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound music festival on Saturday night to stage a pro-Palestinian demonstration, the Israeli Ynet news website reported.

During the performance, a large Palestinian flag and the slogan “Israel is committing genocide. Use your voice” were projected behind the band.

Other messages, including “Free Palestine,” appeared on screens, while several audience members waved Palestinian flags, according to social media footage.

The band has repeatedly used its platform to denounce Israel.

In November, at the Rolling Stone UK Awards, guitarist Carlos O’Connell declared during an acceptance speech: “Free Palestine. F**k [Benjamin] Netanyahu. F**k Zionism,” to loud applause.

Fontaines D.C. also previously canceled a concert in Istanbul following pressure from the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. The group urged artists to avoid the Zorlu PSM venue, claiming its parent company supplies energy to Israel. Activists said this connection should be severed “as long as [Israel] continues what the International Court [of Justice] has acknowledged may constitute genocide.”

The International Court had said no such thing. Judge Georg Nolte of Germany wrote, “I am not persuaded that South Africa has plausibly shown that the military operation undertaken by Israel, as such, is being pursued with genocidal intent.”

Fontaines D.C. have followed the path of their fellow Irish band Kneecap. It expressed open support for Iranian-backed terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah, and used its presence at the Coachella music festival in California in April to similarly accuse Israel of “genocide.”