Kneecap say government and critics “want to make us seem small”

Kneecap have hit back at the government and critics, saying that they “want to make us seem small”.

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It comes after the band declared at festivals like Coachella and Glastonbury that Israel is committing a “genocide” in Gaza, which led to them making headlines due to member Mo Chara allegedly shouting “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah” and displaying a Hezbollah flag on stage. Chara has since appeared in court and been granted unconditional bail; he is due to appear in court again on August 20.

Their Glastonbury set was also investigated by the police, with the investigation closed weeks later with no further action taken.

Bob Vylan also made headlines during their set ahead of Kneecap for leading provocative chants of “free, free Palestine” and “death, death to the IDF” during their set. The police are still investigating their set to decide whether any offences have been made.

Bob Vylan at the BandLab NME Awards 2022. Credit: Zoe McConnell for NME

Speaking in a new interview with Jacobin, Kneecap’s Móglaí Bap said: “During our five days at Glastonbury, 150 or more people were killed in Gaza. Still, all the media attention was on finding something wrong with our gig when there was nothing. For us, that’s clearly a distraction from the actual destruction happening in Palestine.”

When asked whether there is a climate of fear in the industry regarding criticising Israel, Bap replied: “There’s definitely a fear of speaking out, especially among up-and-coming bands. If they speak out, they’re facing a backlash and are blackmailed financially. But this happens in the background, because most people stand by us and don’t want to cancel artists for their views on Palestine.”

He added: “The propaganda against us is the same as that against the Palestinian movement. They want to make us seem small. We haven’t had many gigs cancelled and managed to replace almost all of them. We’re not on borrowed time at all. We’re getting strong support from the fans and most festivals, and we have an upcoming sold-out tour. That speaks for itself.”

Previously this year, Mo Chara addressed the Hezbollah flag incident directly. “It’s a joke. I’m a character,” he said. “Shit is thrown on stage all the time. If I’m supposed to know every fucking thing that’s thrown on stage, I’d be in Mensa, Jesus Christ.”

“I don’t know every proscribed organisation – I’ve got enough shit to worry about up there. I’m thinking about my next lyric, my next joke, the next drop of a beat,” he added.

Last week, the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer issued a statement that said that the ongoing “suffering and starvation unfolding in Gaza” is “unspeakable and indefensible” – a move which some perceived as a u-turn to his original stance.

The Prime Minister has been under increasing pressure from his most senior cabinet ministers and more than a third of MPs to take action on Gaza amid the international outcry over severe malnutrition among the civilian population.

Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies to Gaza, has denied there is starvation in Gaza and rejected accusations of being responsible for food shortages.

It has has been carrying out a full-scale military campaign on occupied Gaza in the nearly-two-years since the October 2023 attack by Hamas at the Israeli music festival Supernova, where 1,195 people were killed.

The UN has found Israel’s military actions to be consistent with genocide, and at least 59,821 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

The state of Israel strongly denies accusations of genocide and war crimes.

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