“They want you to think words are worse than genocide.”
Kneecap
By Richard Malley
“They want you to think words are worse than genocide” is how Kneecap — the Irish rap group — hit back at the media storm surrounding their recent shows. And in that one line they exposed something ugly and familiar: the hypocrisy dominating our public debate.
Moglaí Bap, Mo Chara, and DJ Próvaí (and their manager, Daniel Lambert) have said it from the start — they’re not the story. Gaza is. But, right on cue, the British press and political class shifted the spotlight. Away from a brutal war. Onto a few lines shouted on stage.
Kneecap’s rise — from pub gigs to Glastonbury and Coachella — has always been political. Balaclavas, Irish language lyrics, republican imagery, songs about drugs, cops, and disillusionment. They don’t hide who they are, or what they stand for.
At Coachella, huge banners behind them read “Fuck Israel” and “Free Palestine.” They’ve said again and again: Israel is committing genocide. The International Court of Justice has warned Israel it must take measures to prevent it. Organisations like Amnesty and Medecins Sans Frontieres have said it is happening. Crowds have echoed it. Supporters of Israel have struggled to shut it down. Then old clips resurfaced — a shout of “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah,” and a Hezbollah flag. No full context. No full story. But now Mo Chara faces charges under the Terrorism Act for that flag.
The reaction was instant — and furious.
Let’s be clear: supporting banned groups or calling for violence is serious. But Kneecap quickly said they don’t support Hamas or Hezbollah and they apologised directly to the families of murdered MPs Jo Cox and David Amess and subsequently said the “kill your local MP” clip was ripped from a longer performance and twisted for outrage. We haven’t seen the full footage. But the damage was done.
The same is now happening to Bob Vylan, who preceded them on the West Holts stage at Glastonbury recently. An outspoken critic of institutional police racism in London, and of Israel’s actions in Gaza. He chose to add the term ‘Death to the IDF’, the Israeli Army, to his chant of ‘Free Palestine’. Certainly a violent message and one that Glastonbury, the BBC and the Government itself has controversially condemned as antisemitism. But not as violent as the real-life deaths the IDF has dealt out to Palestinians; they are the army carrying out the genocide. It was the ICJ who asserted the right of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to be protected from acts of genocide.
In both Kneecap and Bob Vylan’s cases, MPs piled in and events were cancelled.
Ask yourself: why this outrage, now?
Because violent language from others hasn’t caused this kind of meltdown. Tory donor Frank Hester said Diane Abbott “should be shot” and that she made him “want to hate all black women.” He’s still around. Still donating. Still platformed. Not banned. Not arrested.
Or Jess Phillips. She once told Jeremy Corbyn, “I won’t knife you in the back, I’ll knife you in the front.” She became a minister.
If those comments are brushed off as “just politics,” why is a rowdy gig treated like a threat to democracy?
The answer’s simple: Kneecap in particular make people uncomfortable. They speak Irish. They want a united Ireland. They don’t shut up about British colonialism. And they’re loud, unapologetic, and relentless on Palestine — a topic Westminster wants buried.
That’s why the government tried to block funding for a film about them. A judge had to overturn it. When Kneecap won, they gave the legal costs — £14,250 — to youth organisations in both nationalist Ballymurphy and loyalist Shankill. That’s not reckless. That’s deliberate. That’s solidarity.
What too many commentators miss is this: Kneecap aren’t fuelling sectarianism — they’re confronting it. They even brought out Young Spencer, a loyalist rapper from the Shankill, to perform with them in Belfast. More than mostpoliticians have ever done.
Still, festivals are caving. Eden Sessions, Plymouth Pavilions, TRNSMT — all cancelled. Green Man was pressured. None of them asked the band for their side of the story. Now Transport for London has banned adverts for Kneecap’s upcoming Wembley Arena gig. That’s not moral clarity. That’s cowardice. And it risks pushing away exactly the young people who keep live music alive.
And this isn’t just about Kneecap. They’re part of a wider wave. Fontaines D.C., the Mary Wallopers, Bob Vylan, Lambrini Girls — young, angry, political bands. They’re raising Palestinian flags on stage. Older artists like Paloma Faith, Paul Weller, Pulp,and Primal Scream have backed Kneecap too. Because in 2024, music is where political truth is being told. Not Parliament.
Musicians are saying what too many MPs won’t. And when they do, they’re attacked. Not because they’re wrong — but because they’re effective.
Yes, Kneecap are provocative. But this moment demands provocation. They’re doing what artists have always done: speaking out when power stays silent.
This isn’t about excusing bad judgment. It’s about seeing the bigger picture. When genocide is sanitised, and lyrics become the scandal — something’s broken.
Kneecap’s words might offend. But the real obscenity is the war they’re shouting about. Mass death. Mass displacement. And a political class that doesn’t want to talk about it and instead wishes to shut down the discussion
If we let outrage over a lyric drown out outrage over a massacre, we lose sight of what matters. And that’s exactly how the powerful want it.
- By Richard Malley
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