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Portuguese comedian Ines Aires Pereira quit a Jerry Seinfeld-headlined Lisbon festival on Sept. 5 and accused Israel of genocide.
She was among six Portuguese acts that left the lineup for the MEO Commedia a La Carte Fest, scheduled for Oct. 29 through Nov. 1. Organizers have promoted Seinfeld’s set as his first live appearance in Portugal. None of the six publicly identified him as the reason for withdrawing.
Pereira wrote that “one of the names” on the bill “persistently defends ideas and acts that I consider indefensible.” She then invoked the “genocide” accusation against Israel, writing, “We cannot relativize or normalize a genocide.”
The blood libel falsely accused Jews of murdering Christian children for ritual purposes. For centuries, that lie fueled violence and persecution against Jewish communities. Today, the “genocide” libel redirects the same accusation of calculated bloodshed toward the State of Israel, the collective embodiment of the Jewish people.
The comedy duo Cebola Mol also withdrew, posting a graphic featuring themselves with a watermelon, which emerged as a common antisemitic symbol in the October 7th aftermath.
“We will celebrate justice, freedom and joy with you on another occasion,” they wrote.
Organizers announced on Sept. 4 that Tributo Pop and Conjunto Cuca Monga had also canceled, without providing reasons. Comedian Pedro Tochas and visual artist Vhils separately announced their withdrawals on Instagram but offered no explanation.
After decades of largely avoiding politics, Seinfeld emerged as a prominent advocate for Israel following Hamas’s October 7th massacre. He traveled to Israel in December 2023 to meet families of hostages abducted during the attack.
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