A Jewish comic has been banned by an Edinburgh Fringe venue after they attended a vigil for the victims of the October 7 assaults.
Philip Simon has been denied entry to the Banshee Labyrinth pub, because of alleged "rhetoric and symbology" linked to Israel.
One motive cited by the venue for cancelling his present was because of attendance at a vigil for the Hamas terror assaults, which claimed the lives of over 1,200 folks.
Banshee Labyrinth informed Simon: "Our administration had an obligation of care to our clients and employees members to assessment the political statements and opinions expressed by the performer.
"We really feel it’s inappropriate for us to supply a platform for performers whose views and actions align with the rhetoric and symbology of teams related to humanitarian violations."
Simon stated the one opinion he expressed on the battle in Gaza was the push for peace and the hostages to be freed.
Simon stated: "I’m nonetheless processing the idea that in 2025 I could be cancelled only for being Jewish.
"Within the meantime, I’ll nonetheless be on the Fringe for my one remaining youngsters's present and proceed to research potential various venues for each of my cancelled exhibits."
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The pub defined that it got here to the conclusion to ban Simon after going by way of his social media pages.
Banshee Labyrinth informed The Telegraph: "We routinely display screen bands and performers for affiliations to, and statements that advocate for, discriminatory teams.
"Now we have hosted Philip in earlier years and solely thought we should always take a look at his pages to see what was happening due to what occurred with [a related row at] the neighbouring venue.
"If we hadn't discovered something of concern, he would clearly nonetheless be performing with us."
The alleged issues got here from Simon sharing photos of the vigil, together with messages on his X account studying: "Stand as much as terror" and "convey dwelling the hostages".
The venue added its resolution to cancel the present got here after a row with a close-by web site, Whistlebinkies, which had additionally cancelled exhibits by Simon with fellow comic Rachel Creeger.
Bar employees declare they felt "unsafe" on the performer's gigs, resulting in the cancellations.
Creeger stated: "Sadly, that is a part of an ongoing drawback confronted by Jewish performers on this nation. We’re being cancelled and infrequently silently boycotted."