Controversial French Muslim rapper Medine has announced he was cancelling two planned performances at the Bataclan theater, the site of the 2015 terrorist attack. The decision was claimed as a victory by right-wing protesters.
The 35-year-old French man, of Algerian descent, was scheduled to hold two concerts at the Paris theater in mid-October.
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The planned events sparked an outcry on the right side of the French political spectrum, with people saying that allowing Medine perform at the Bataclan would be “sacriligeous” to the victims of the November 2015 massacre, when a terrorist cell associated with the jihadist group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) killed 90 people at the venue and claimed 40 more lives elsewhere in Paris.
Medine’s lyrics are controversial in France. Singing about what he sees as the anti-Islamic bias of the society, he used phrases like “crucify the secularists” and “I put fatwas on the heads of idiots” in his songs.
Bataclan’s announcement of the cancellations said the decision was taken by the venue “out of respect for the victims” and their families. It said the rapper would hold his concerts at another venue. Medine himself blamed the right-wing activists, who called for protests in front of the theater to oppose his gigs.
Marine Le Pen of the right-wing National Rally called the cancellations “a victory for all the victims of Islamic terrorism.”
L’annulation du concert de @Medinrecords au Bataclan est une victoire pour toutes les victimes du terrorisme islamiste.
Cette provocation n’avait pas sa place dans cette salle, compte tenu de son histoire douloureuse. MLP
— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) September 21, 2018
The artist said he would hold an event at the Paris Zenith in February next year instead of the cancelled Bataclan shows.
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