Multiple acts participating in a comedy festival in Portugal, the inaugural MEO Commedia a La Carte Fest (Lisbon International Humour Festival), have announced that they are no longer participating.

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Actress Inês Aires Pereira announced on Saturday that her show Namastê was being removed from the festival‘s lineup and explained her reasoning being that “one of the names insistently defends ideas and acts that I consider indefensible.” She also added in her social media post: “We cannot relativize or normalize a genocide.”

Her statement did not explicitly identify any particular act that she was referring to.

The comedy duo Cebola Mol, made up of Eduardo Madeira and Filipe Homem Fonseca, also announced on Saturday that they too would not be performing in the festival.

“We will celebrate justice, freedom and joy with you on another occasion,” they wrote on social media.

Other acts to withdraw from the festival include concert “Tributo Pop” (Carolina Deslandes, Tatanka and Bárbara Tinoco), the group Conjunto Cuca Monga, comedian Pedro Tochas and visual artist Vhils (Alexandre Farto). Reasoning was not publicly revealed.

The first edition of the Lisbon International Humour Festival will take place from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1.

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American comedian Jerry Seinfeld is headlining the festival.

The comedian has openly supported Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. When announcing their exit from the upcoming festival, Cebola Mol shared an illustrated photo of themselves and a watermelon, which is recognized as an unofficial symbol for Palestinian solidarity. The fruit’s colors notably match the Palestinian flag. 

Seinfeld recently received backlash for his comments last year while appearing at a Duke University event, where he compared the Free Palestine movement to the Ku Klux Klan.

“Free Palestine is, to me, just — you’re free to say you don’t like Jews,” Seinfeld said, according to The Chronicle, Duke University’s student newspaper. “Just say you don’t like Jews. By saying ‘Free Palestine,’ you’re not admitting what you really think. So it’s actually — compared to the Ku Klux Klan, I’m actually thinking the Klan is actually a little better here because they can come right out and say, ‘We don’t like Blacks, we don’t like Jews.’ OK that’s honest.”

The Chronicle quoted a University spokesperson who noted, “Duke does not preview the remarks of speakers who are invited to campus, and the invitation of speakers to campus does not imply any endorsement of their remarks.”

The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to reps for Seinfeld and the Portugal festival for comment.

The entertainment industry has been increasingly vocal about the Israel-Gaza conflict, with calls to remove certain actors from projects including Kevin Zegers from Heated Rivarly, and mounting criticism directed at individuals expressing opposing views on the issue. Two actors recently withdrew from the production of Right Before I Go at the Soho Theatre over Dame Maureen Lipman‘s public comments about Israel and Palestine. A petition for Macklemore to be removed from Ed Sheeran‘s tour has also spurred after the artist yelled “Free Palestine“ while performing at the MetLife Stadium.

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