Muslim rapper who released an album titled Jihad sparks outrage with plans to perform at the Bataclan where 90 people died in Paris terror attack
- Protest to stop a scheduled show by Marine has reached over 13,000 signatures
- Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has joined call to prevent 'filth' into tragic site
- The rapper is known for provocative lyrics and has a song titled 'Bataclan'
Calls to stop a controversial Muslim rapper performing at France's Bataclan theatre has intensified with a demand President Emmanuel Macron take action.
Far-right later Marine Le Pen said it would be a national disgrace to allow Médine's shows take place at the venue of the November 2015 Paris attacks.
The rapper is known in France for provocative ideas and once released an album called 'Jihad'.
Médine has two shows scheduled at Bataclan in October but faces demands to cancel
An online petition has been launched against the rapper who released an album 'Jihad' in 2005
An online protest started by right-wing MPs — 'NO to the rapper Médine' playing Bataclan — has gathered more than 13,400 signatures.
Republican leader Laurent Wauquiez said the two concerts would be 'a sacrilege for the victims and a dishonour for France,' reported the The Telegraph.
Lawyers acting for relatives of those killed and injured in the massacre plan to take legal action on the grounds that they pose a threat to public order.
Médine has shows at the venue where 90 concertgoers were massacred during the Paris attacks
The scene outside Bataclan in 2015 after a series of bombings and shootings across Paris
Republicans have asked President Emmanuel Macron, seen here at the G7 summit in Canada on Saturday, to intervene in halting the scheduled performances
Near Paris, Meaux mayor Jean-François Copé said it was 'intolerable and completely mad' to allow Médine play planned shows on October 19 and 20.
He, along with senator Éric Ciotti, told President Macron to ban the concert.
Front National head Le Pen tweeted:
'No French person can accept that this bloke goes and pours out his filth at the scene of the #Bataclan.'
Médine, whose full name is Médine Zaouiche, is known for provocative lyrics about Islam and secularism in France.
He released an album called 'Jihad' in 2005 but said the lyrics refer to an internal identity struggle.
In March he launched a single called 'Bataclan' which focussed on his personal relationship with the music venue as an up-and-coming rapper.
His conscious lyrics are perceived as some liberals as confronting difficult ideas.
But lines such as 'I put fatwas on the head of jerks' and 'crucify secularists' on 2015 rap 'Don't Laïk' have divided opinion.
Aurore Bergé of social-liberal party La République En Marche! said the words are 'more or less a call to murder,' according to Le Monde.
Republican senator Bruno Retailleau said Médine warrants the treatment comic Dieudonné got under former President François Hollande.
Dieudonné, convicted of spreading hate speech about Jews and condoning terrorism, had a number of his shows banned by Hollande.
Médine has a song with lines 'I put fatwas on the head of jerks' and 'crucify secularists'
Isis claimed responsibility for the violence on November 13, 2015 that claimed the lives of 130 people
Promoters Yuma Productions defended Médine, born in Le Havre and of Algerian descent, and his scheduled gigs saying:
'Médine explained several times about the song 'Don't Laïk'. There is no ambiguity in what he says.
'He even wrote a magnificent text on the Bataclan to which everyone adhered.'
New York Times wrote in 2016 that 'Don't Laïk' was actually meant to champion France's secularism laws to give people room to practice religion.
Over the weekend, families of the victims at Bataclan sued the French state after it was revealed anti-terror officers armed with assault rifles stood outside the theatre as the carnage unfolded inside were told by superiors not to intervene.
- Protests over plan for Muslim rapper to perform at Bataclan
- Droite et extrême droite appellent à l¿annulation de concerts du rappeur Médine au Bataclan
- Giving Voice to France¿s Poorest Youth, With Rhymes and Beats - The New York Times
- Bataclan terror victims sue French state for not allowing armed soldiers to intervene - The Local
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