Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, known by his stage name Mo Chara, from Irish rap trio Kneecap, is being charged with terror offences by British police for displaying a Hezbollah flag at a London concert in November.
“We deny this ‘offence’ and will vehemently defend ourselves,” Kneecap said in a social media post on May 22. “This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction.”
“As they profit from genocide, they use an ‘anti-terror law’ against us for displaying a flag thrown on stage … We are not the story, genocide is.”
Mo Chara is set to face the Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 18, with the trio pointing out that the charges are designed to silence pro-Palestine voices.
“What’s the objective?” the group said. “To restrict our ability to travel. To prevent us from speaking to young people across the world. To silence voices of compassion. To prosecute artists who dare speak out.
“Instead of defending innocent people, or the principles of international law they claim to uphold, the powerful in Britain have abetted the slaughter and famine in Gaza, just as they did in Ireland for centuries.
“The IDF [Israeli Defense Force] units they arm and fly spy plane missions for are the real terrorists, the whole world can see it.”
Genocide
Israel has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza since it escalated its genocide 19 months ago and is now intentionally starving hundreds of thousands of people with its aid blockade.
Kneecap — Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap (Naoise Ó Cairealláin) and DJ Próvaí (J Ó Dochartaigh) — have been outspoken critics of Israel’s genocide and used their social media pages and live performances to promote solidarity with Palestine.
At an April 11 set at the Coachella festival in the United States, the group projected the following text behind them onstage: “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.”
The Guardian reported that during the set, Mo Chara said: “The Palestinians have nowhere to go. It’s their fucking home and they’re bombing them from the skies. If you’re not calling it a genocide, what the fuck are you calling it?”
TV presenter Sharon Osbourne, a longtime supporter of Israel, said the group should not have incorporated “aggressive political statements” into their set, and called on the US government to revoke the group’s visas. Kneecap responded: “Statement’s aren’t aggressive, murdering 20,000 children is though.”
In response to the media frenzy, Kneecap were dropped by their booking agent Independent Artist Group, which means their US visas are no longer valid.
Despite this, their upcoming tour of the US and Canada is reportedly sold out, revealing the disconnect between political and corporate media figures and ordinary people.
Solidarity
Following Mo Chara’s terror charges, dozens of Irish and British artists — including Massive Attack, Pulp, Paul Weller, The Pogues, Primal Scream, Thin Lizzy, English Teacher, Fontaines DC and others — voiced their support for Kneecap in an open letter.
The letter said there has been “a clear, concerted attempt to censor and ultimately deplatform Kneecap”. “In Westminster and the British media, senior political figures 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 musical festivals, including Glastonbury [festival].”
Kneecap were dropped from Scotland’s TRNSMT festival and a number of shows in Germany were cancelled, although Glastonbury announced on June 3 that they would not be dropping the group.
After TRNSMT festival cancelled their slot, Kneecap announced a replacement gig at the O2 Academy in Glasgow on July 8, which quickly sold out.
Political and media establishment backlash is not new for Kneecap, who, along with their solidarity with Palestine, have been targeted for their support for Irish language restoration, Irish republicanism and anti-British statements.
Irish-language radio station RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta banned the group’s first single “C.E.A.R.T.A.”, released in 2017, for “drug references and cursing” — although reversed it after hundreds signed a petition in protest.
Cearta is Irish for “rights” — the song was inspired by the story of Móglaí Bap spray painting the word on a bus stop the day before a march in support of the Irish Language Act in Belfast in 2017 and being pursued by police. The Act, eventually passed in 2022, gave the Irish language equal status with English.
Kneecap also faced a corporate media backlash for chanting “Brits out” at a concert at the Empire Musical Hall in Belfast the day after Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton visited the venue in 2019.
Repression
Repression by police, government and the media was central to the plot of Kneecap, the 2024 semi-biographical comedy film starring the group members as themselves.
The film won “Best Independent British Film”, “Best Lead” (shared between the trio) and “Best Debut Screenwriter” at the British Independent Film Awards and the Spirit of the Festival Award at the Celtic Media Awards.
The film was nominated for five British Academy of Film Awards (BAFTA), with the film’s writer and director Rich Peppiatt winning in the “Oustanding Debut” category.
The fact that a film exploring Irish republicanism won a BAFTA pissed off far-right Reform leader Nigel Farage, who called it “an insult of the worst kind to all the good people of the RUC [Royal Ulster Constabulary] and British Army who were murdered by the IRA”.
Kneecap won a legal challenge against the British government in November last year over a decision by the previous Rishi Sunak Conservative government to deny them an arts grant.
Belfast’s High Court awarded Kneecap £14,250 (A$29,737), which they donated to two Belfast youth charities. “We took some money from the King … then gave it away to youth clubs on both sides of the community,” Kneecap said on social media.
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When Kneecap visited Australia in March, their shows were packed out with people wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian and Aboriginal flags.
At a Naarm/Melbourne show, the stone head of a statue of King George V, which had been missing since June last year, appeared on stage before once again disappearing. It symbolised the solidarity between anti-colonial movements around the world.
Kneecap also held up banners that said “The Black genocide must be stopped” and “Australia has no consent, no Treaty”, and performed in front of a mural created in collaboration with Gumbaynggirr artist Aretha Brown that read “Defy the occupation”.
Kneecap are among the many inspiring and staunch people, including students, journalists, health workers and others, who have been criticised and censored for expressing solidarity with Palestine and opposing the genocide.
While one rap group won’t stop Israel’s atrocities, they have been effective in amplifying the voices of the international Palestine solidarity movement.
The repression by governments and the corporate media shows they are worried about the impact groups like Kneecap can have in turning public opinion against the genocide.
Cultural boycotts were an important part of the overall campaign against Apartheid South Africa and will likely play a role in stopping the genocide in Gaza and Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
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