‘Kneecap is not the story’

A wave of solidarity has built in support of young Irish rap band Kneecap amid a concerted witch-hunt to destroy the group over its outspoken opposition to the genocide in Gaza.

The band has been targeted following its brave decision to use their performances at high-profile US music festival Coachella to send an unequivocal message to oppose the ethnic slaughter of over 50,000 Palestinians by Israel.

At the end of their second set, Kneecap projected text onto three screens that read “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people”.

Another stated that the genocide “is being enabled by the US government, who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes”, and a final screen added: “F*ck Israel. Free Palestine”.

Videos have been circulating online showing band member ‘Mo Chara’ telling fans in California that “the Irish not so long ago were persecuted at the hands of the Brits, but we were never bombed from the... skies with nowhere to go. The Palestinians have nowhere to go.”

Kneecap weren’t the only people who made pro-Palestinian messages at the festival, but it has unleashed a carnival of pro-Israeli and anti-Irish resentment among the political and media elite, mostly centred on the corridors of power in London.

Thousands of hours of their performances have been scoured for potentially embarrassing comments to be used out of context as weapons to ‘cancel’ the band - and deflect and confuse reports about the genocide.

In comparison, it almost went unreported that a UN court this week heard that Israel is deliberately ‘starving, killing and displacing’ Gaza civilians; and that Israeli forces have now dropped more explosives in Gaza than fell on London, Dresden, and Hamburg during the Second World War.

Pro-Israel celebrities such as X-factor judge Sharon Osbourne and spoon-bender Uri Geller have led a campaign against the band, and in a bizarre overreach, against former British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was once pictured with the band in 2023.

Osbourne demanded the band have their work US visas revoked, while a variety of right-wing political figures called for a police investigation into some of their more hyperbolic, tongue-in-cheek stage comments.

Several of their concerts have reportedly been cancelled in recent days, but Kneecap remain undaunted.

They told the BBC: “Statements aren’t aggressive. Murdering 20,000 children is, though.”

Now music legends including Paul Weller, Pulp are among 40 high profile artists and bands who have signed a statement in support of the West Belfast group.

Dozens of artists, including some of the biggest names in Irish and British music, have come out in support of the group.

“This past week has seen a clear, concerted attempt to censor and ultimately deplatform the band Kneecap,” the signed letter said.

“In Westminster and the British media, senior political figures in Britain have been openly engaged in a campaign to remove Kneecap from the public eye, with veiled threats being made over their scheduled performances at gigs, outdoor events and music festivals, including Glastonbury.”

The musicians suggested there was a wider campaign.

“Chillingly, it is also clear to us that influential figures and personalities within the wider music industry are attempting to influence this campaign of intimidation,” they said.

“As artists, we feel the need to register our opposition to any political repression of artistic freedom.

“In a democracy, no political figures or political parties should have the right to dictate who does and does not play at music festivals or gigs that will be enjoyed by thousands of people.”

The musicians said artistic freedom must be defended.

“The question of agreeing with Kneecap’s political views is irrelevant: it is in the key interests of every artist that all creative expression be protected in a society that values culture, and that this interference campaign is condemned and ridiculed.

“Furthermore, it is also the duty of key leadership figures in the music industry to actively defend artistic freedom of expression - rather than seek to silence views which oppose their own.”

Artists, including Paul Weller, have signed the statement, as well as Irish music legends Christie Moore, Damien Dempsey, The Pogues sand Thin Lizzy.

The band Massive Attack, who themselves have been vocal in their support for Palestine for decades, issued a statement supporting Kneecap and urging the focus to remain on the genocide against the Palestinian people.

In a statement titled ‘Kneecap are not the story’, Massive Attack wrote: “If senior politicians can find neither the time, nor the words to condemn, say, the murder of fifteen voluntary aid workers in Gaza, or the illegal starvation of a civilian population as a method of warfare, or the killing of thousands & thousands of children in the same territory, by a state in possession of the highest precision weapons on earth; how much notice should a music festival take of their moral advice on booking performing acts?”

Although Kneecap has never expressed support for any republican organisation, the band frequently uses republican-style lyrics and branding, even adopting a balaclava as its logo.

The effort to shut down has been compared to the annual outrage over summertime performances by the more traditional rebel bands such as the Wolfe Tones, but on a much larger scale.

The young rap groups perform most of their lyrics in both Irish and English, reasserting the native language which was almost drive to extinction, and their dominant philosophy remans one of strident anti-colonialism.

“Rebel music in Ireland has all the same sort of ideas as hip-hop in America. A community that’s oppressed, using songs to revolt in some way,” according to ‘Mo Chara’.

The band’s manager, Daniel Lambert, characterised criticism of the Coachella performance as “moral hysteria”.

“If somebody’s hurt by the truth, that’s something for them to be hurt by,” he told RTE in an interview. “But it’s really important to speak truth and thankfully, the lads are not afraid to do that.

“They have the bravery and the conviction, given where they’ve come from in a post-conflict society, to stand up for what’s right, and [they] are willing to do that despite the fact that it may harm their career.”

For the interview, he wore a ‘Pogues’ t-shirt, whose lyrics about miscarriages of justice ere banned from the airwaves in the 1980s after generating government concern that they could “support, solicit or invite support for an organisation”. At the time, Pogues manager Frank Murray said: “I’m glad to see we’re that important, that we’re a threat to the state”.

But Mr Lambert questioned the extraordinary attention being given to the band’s statements.

“Why aren’t we talking about the opinion of Omer Bartov, an Israeli-American genocide expert, who concludes that Israel are committing genocide? Why should we care what Sharon Osbourne thinks? I certainly don’t,” he said.

“To the band’s massive credit, there are three young working-class people who have built a career for themselves, on the basis of the Irish language, music, culture and identity.

“They have the bravery and conviction, especially [considering] where they’ve come from, in a post-conflict society, to stand up for what’s right.”

Mr Lambert said Kneecap should be praised for making a stand “despite the fact it may harm their careers, and their income”, adding: “It’s an extremely strong position for young people to take, especially young people from a working-class background.”

Urgent Appeal