Kneecap have issued a defiant statement calling out establishment critics amid mounting calls for the Belfast hip-hop group to be pulled from major festival bills in the UK.
The trio - rappers Mo Chara (Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh) and Móglaí Bap (Naoise Ó Cairealláin) plus DJ Próvaí (JJ Ó Dochartaigh) - have come under the microscope in recent weeks following their provocative performances at the Coachella festival. During their two sets at the Californian festival, as at every show they have performed for the past 18 months, Kneecap expressed their support for the Palestinian people, amid on-going attacks on Gaza by the Israeli military, triggered by the October 7, 2023 massacre of 1,195 people in Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Kneecap have played benefit shows for Palestine since their inception: proceeds from previous shows raised funds for a gym in the Aida Refugee Camp in the West Bank. Last year, the West Belfast group - and every other Irish act on the festival line-up - withdrew from the annual South By South West event in Austin, Texas upon learning that the festival took sponsorship money from the US army and defence contractors which supply weapons to Israel. And last summer, during their performance at Reading and Leeds festivals, the trio displayed an on-stage message reading "The British Government is enabling a genocide in Gaza.”
At Coachella, Kneecap displayed similar messaging, stating “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. Fuck Israel, Free Palestine.” Rapper Mo Chara also asked the crowd, “If you’re not calling it a genocide, what the fuck are you calling it?”
The band's Coachella performance drew widespread condemnation from within the US music industry, and led to the group and their US booking agency parting company. Sharon Osbourne was among the most vocal critics of the band, claiming that Coachella “compromised its moral and spiritual integrity” by allowing Kneecap (and Green Day and others) to criticise Israel from its stages. Osbourne also suggested that Kneecap's visas for future US gigs should be revoked.
As pressure has mounted on the band, news has also emerged that footage of two Kneecap gigs are being assessed by counter-terrorism police in the UK, with the trio being accused of voicing support for proscribed terror organisations Hamas and Hezbollah at a November 2024 show in London, and another claim, connected to a gig one year earlier, accusing a band member of stating, “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”
The Metropolitan Police subsequently issued a statement saying that their assessment of both clips will “determine whether further police investigation is required.”
Media reports on the second of these accusations also led to condemnation of the group from the families of murdered Conservative MP David Amess, and murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, and provoked calls from standing MPs for the band to be taken off British festival bills, including Glastonbury and TRNSMT.
In a statement issued last night, Kneecap apologised to the families of both late MPs, but re-affirmed their support for the Palestinian people.
The statement in full reads:
“They want you to believe words are more harmful than genocide.
“Establishment figures, desperate to silence us, have combed through hundreds of hours of footage and interviews, extracting a handful of words from months or years ago to manufacture moral hysteria.
“Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah. We condemn all attacks on civilians, always. It is never okay. We know this more than anyone, given our nation's history.
“We also reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual. Ever. An extract of footage, deliberately taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponised, as if it were a call to action.
“This distortion is not only absurd - it is a transparent effort to derail the real conversation.
“All two million Palestinian people in Gaza are currently being starved to death by Israel.
“At least 20,000 children in Gaza have been killed. The British government continues to supply arms to Israel, even after scores of NHS doctors warned Keir Starmer in August that children were being systematically executed with sniper shots to the head.
“Instead of defending innocent people or the principles of international law, the powerful in Britain have abetted slaughter and famine.
“This is where real anger and outrage should be directed towards.
“To the Amess and Cox families, we send our heartfelt apologies, we never intended to cause you hurt.
“Kneecap’s message has always been - and remains - one of love, inclusion, and hope. This is why our music resonates across generations, countries, classes and cultures and has brought hundreds of thousands of people to our gigs.
“No smear campaign will change that.
“Suddenly, days after calling out the US administration at Coachella to applause and solidarity, there is an avalanche of outrage and condemnation by the political classes of Britain.
“The real crimes are not in our performances; the real crimes are the silence and complicity of those in power.
“Shame on them.”
As yet, the band have not been removed from any UK festival bills, though their invitations to perform at two German festivals have been withdrawn.
