People of Ypres ask for cancellation of ‘Frontnacht’ in open letter
According to the collective, there will be groups that incite hatred, racism and violence. To prove that, they analyzed a number of lyrics. That is why the city has attached conditions to the permit, but according to the collective it is clear that the bands will not comply with them.
A quote from the open letter: “Let’s appeal to your imagination and make it very concrete : a lapse, a willful slip of the tongue, a meaningful concealment or hidden allusion to a ‘censored’ song by a frontman in the binding lyrics and… believe us, the fire is lit! The fans chant the well-known incendiary slogans, the fence is off. One has to be of very good quality to be able to contain this mass hysteria. In fact, there must be many and what is the effect of such a police force on an excited crowd? Suppose one decides at such crucial moments not to intervene (so as not to cause an escalation, which is perfectly understandable), what has one actually achieved? That a free pass was just given to spewing hate, racism and fascist ideas is shared! This is not what Ypres as a city of peace wants to be reminded of, is it?”
The collective asks the city council to cancel the event. “A neo-Nazi, fascist and racist music festival has no place in Peace City Ypres, nowhere by the way.”
The open letter was signed, among others, by two former mayors of Ypres: Luc Dehaene and Jan Durnez.