By Rose Tedeschi
After using their shows at Coachella to speak out for the Palestinian people, Kneecap, an underground Irish hip hop trio, have found themselves under attack from the capitalist and pro-Zionist media.
The group has long been considered controversial, with lyrics celebrating drugs and calling for a united Ireland. But they were thrown into the spotlight after a Coachella performance in which they addressed the situation in Gaza, shouting ‘fuck Israel.’ Before the live stream was cut, viewers across the world saw emblazoned across their screens, ‘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.’
They have attracted an abundance of criticism from commentators keen to paint criticism of Israel as a crime far worse than genocide in Palestine. David Lambert, the band’s manager, defended the band, pointing out that more than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the most recent conflict, condemning the criticisms as ‘moral hysteria’ and went on to say ‘if somebody’s hurt by the truth, that’s something for them to be hurt by.’
Kemi Badenoch stated that the band ‘should be prosecuted’ and that they were ‘anti-British.’ For an Irish nationalist group, this is probably quite a compliment! It’s not the first time Badenoch has clashed with the band – as business secretary in 2024 she denied them a grant due to their anti-British lyrics, a decision Kneecap successfully challenged.
Since Coachella, the band has been under intense scrutiny. Videos of them shouting ‘the only good Tory is a dead Tory’ and ‘kill your local MP’ have been dredged up to paint the band as controversial or dangerous and undermine their comments about the genocide. Of course, we shouldn’t be calling for the killing of our local MPs, and, out of context, the comments can be painted as calls for assassination or terrorism.
But the sentiment that the only good Tory is a dead Tory doesn’t actually mean go and kill the Tories, just as chants of ‘eat the rich’ don’t actually advocate cannibalism. Slogans such as these are raised in opposition to a system of oppression, poverty and violence and the band has condemned the media and state’s attempts to ‘exploit and weaponise’ the footage.
As of now, no charges have been filed against the band, but we can be sure that their meteoric rise to fame will be helped rather than hindered by this latest controversy. Tickets are still available for the UK leg of their world tour and their fantastic film Kneecap is available to stream online.
