Northern Irish rap group Kneecap are being investigated by Britain’s counter-terrorism police.
A spokesman for London’s Metropolitan Police told Sky News on April 23, “We have been made aware of the video and it has been referred to the counter terrorism internet referral unit for assessment [CTIRU] and to determine whether any further police investigation may be required.” CTIRU is part of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command with a remit to identify terrorist and extremist material online.
The video is said to be of a Kneecap gig in Kentish Town, London, last November in which a group member supposedly shouts “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”. A copy of the poor quality video in which very little can be made out has been posted online by Danny Morris, a leading figure of the pro-Zionist Community Security Trust (CST). Hamas and Hezbollah are proscribed in the UK, despite the mass support for the bourgeois nationalist organisations in devastated Gaza and the Lebanon. Under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000, it is an offence to express “an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation”.
On Sunday, it emerged that CTIRU are assessing another video amid allegations that a Kneecap member called for the killing of Conservative Party MPs.
The CST has 110 staff members and claims over 2,000 volunteers. Recognised as a charity, it works closely with the state and has intimate relations with the police and counter-intelligence. After receiving £18 million from the outgoing Conservative government for 2024-25, the then Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in February last year that the CST would be handed £54 million in new funding over the next 4 years to 2028— for a total of over £70 million.
The Labour government has taken over where the Tories left off, with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper addressing the CST’s annual business lunch last September while the organisation’s chair and chief executive met with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street in November. The CST played a central role in the witch-hunting of supporters of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The CST referral is the latest of a series of provocations directed against the young Belfast group, which have intensified following their performance at the Coachella music festival in California on April 18.
The group’s second set was played in front of a projection stating, “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people… It is being enabled by the U.S. government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. Fuck Israel; free Palestine.”
The crowd erupted into chants of “Free, free Palestine!”
Kneecap were attacked by reality TV star Sharon Osbourne on social media who accused the trio of “hate speech”. Osbourne, the wife of heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne, encouraged her social media followers to “join me in advocating for the revocation of Kneecap’s work visa”.
Osbourne attacked Coachella’s organiser Goldenvoice for allowing Kneecap to perform. The group was also attacked by Zionist apologists, the “Creative Community for Peace”, who also called for their work visas to be revoked.
The group has 21 gigs coming up in the US in October, most of which are sold out. Loss of their visas would prevent the group appearing for this tour but could lead to them being barred from appearing in the US thereafter. The Independent Artists Group (IAG), have, according to the Hollywood Reporter now dropped providing booking agency services to the group. IAG were also Kneecap’s visa sponsors, meaning they are reportedly left seeking a new visa.
The group announced that they have been excluded from two music festivals in Germany— the Hurricane Festival in Scheeßel, and the Southside Festival near Tuttlingen, Irish broadcaster RTE wrote, “German newspaper Die Welt reported the group had been uninvited from the festivals following the controversy over their Coachella performances.” However, three new gigs, in Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg, have been arranged.
Kneecap, who have been flying Palestinian flags at their gigs for years and have assisted in fundraising efforts for a volunteer gym in Bethlehem, defended themselves.
Group member Mo Chara told Rolling Stone, “We believe we have an obligation to use our platform when we can to raise the issue of Palestine, and it was important for us to speak out at Coachella as the USA is the main funder and supplier of weapons to Israel as they commit genocide in Gaza... As I said from the stage, ‘The U.S. government could stop the genocide tomorrow.’ It’s important that young Americans hear and know it.”
Answering Osbourne’s attack Chara said, “Her rant has so many holes in it that it hardly warrants a reply, but she should listen to ‘War Pigs’ that was written by Black Sabbath”. Ozzy Osbourne was one of the co-writers of the 1970 anti-war song.
Speaking on RTE’s Drivetime this week, Kneecap’s manager Danny Lambert, asked about the Coachella appearance, spoke of a “beautiful reaction from hundreds of young Americans who came up to the lads at Coachella to say that they had said something that wasn’t being said in America and that these kids believed in. This was said by young girls, young boys, people in their 20s, 30s. So, so many people came up to say thank you for saying what is right, what is just and something that, sadly, isn’t said enough.”
Asked his attitude to people being “offended”, Lambert continued “the real issue here is somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 people have been murdered. 20,000 of them are children....if somebody is hurt by the truth, then that is something for them to be hurt by. But it is really important to speak truths, and thankfully the lads are not afraid to do that.”
Referring to Israeli government lies about the murder and burial of 15 emergency workers with their ambulances. Lambert asked “at what point here do we stop amplifying messages that are consistently proven to be incomplete and inaccurate.”
The group have received death threats described by Lambert as “too serious to get into.”
He continued “To the band’s massive credit, there’s three young working-class people here 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 where they’ve come from in a post-conflict society, to stand up for what’s right… despite the fact it may harm their careers, and their income. It’s an extremely strong position for young people to take, especially young people from a working-class background.”
Kneecap posted on their X feed April 25:
“Since our statements at Coachella—exposing the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people—we have faced a coordinated smear campaign. For over a year, we have used our shows to call out the British and Irish governments’ complicity in war crimes. The recent attacks against us, largely emanating from the US, are based on deliberate distortions and falsehoods. We are taking action against several of these malicious efforts.”
“The reason Kneecap is being targeted is simple—we are telling the truth, and our audience is growing. Those attacking us want to silence criticism of a mass slaughter. They weaponize false accusations of anti-semitism to distract, confuse, and provide cover for genocide.”
“We do not give a f*ck what religion anyone practices. We know there are massive numbers of Jewish people outraged by this genocide just as we are. What we care about is that governments of the countries we perform in are enabling some of the most horrific crimes of our lifetimes—and we will not stay silent... The young people at our gigs see through the lies.”