Richard Hogan: Kneecap spoke poorly-chosen words but Netanyahu has killed 50,000 Palestinians

Irish Examiner

07-05-2025

I was 16 when I watched Sinéad O'Connor slowly tear up a photo of the pope live on US television. I remember thinking, 'Why does she hate the pope so much?' Of course, I understand now what she was protesting against. It was an incredibly dramatic and performative moment from which her career never fully recovered.
When we think about the remarkable talent that was Sinéad, we think of that moment and her strength in speaking for those who had no voice in our society. She was a singular singer, and a loss sorely felt in today's world of manufactured music.
But real music has always had the ability to speak truth to power in a way other art forms often cannot.
Frankie telling us all to 'Relax' in 1984, in response to the AIDS epidemic, was banned from the airwaves. The Sex Pistols opened with the line, 'God save the Queen, the fascist regime… she ain't no human being'— a blast of recalcitrant energy, full of rage against a system that tried to silence them. Paul McCartney sang Give Ireland Back to the Irish.
His Beatles bandmate John Lennon sent his OBE back to the queen in protest against the Vietnam war. NWA's F**k the Police caused outrage in the US on its release. It dared to speak out about police brutality against the black community.
A few years later, the world saw what they had been rapping about when Rodney King was beaten mercilessly by the LA police. There was video evidence, and yet the police officers were found not guilty. The ruling sparked the LA riots. But Eazy-E and Ice Cube had already warned us.
Artists have a long history of challenging power and oppression. That's why totalitarian regimes work so hard to silence authors and artists: Because free thinking is a threat to control.
Members of Kneecap, Mo Chara, JJ O'Dochartaigh and Moglai Bap attending the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) Awards Ceremony at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre.
The recent controversy over the Irish rap group Kneecap has sparked international debate. A number of their concerts have been cancelled, and the pressure on Glastonbury's organisers to drop them must be immense. So, Kneecap are being cancelled. The rabid dog of cancel culture has them in its teeth.
It must be a confusing time for the band. After achieving phenomenal success last year, they now face the full force of the outrage machine. The future of the band hangs in the balance. But what exactly have they done to provoke Sharon Osbourne and others who seek to deplatform them?
Two unwise remarks were made in the heat of performance. Remarks for which they've apologised and which they acknowledged were wrong. One was a reference to the infamous line attributed to General Sheridan in 1869, when comanche chief Tosahwi reportedly said, 'Tosawi, good Indian,' to which Sheridan allegedly replied, 'The only good Indian I ever saw was dead.'
Sheridan, interestingly, had Irish ancestry. Kneecap echoed that sentiment with the line, 'The only good Tory is a dead Tory.' Were they really encouraging literal violence?
Did Jeremy Clarkson literally want his comments about Meghan Markle to come true, dreaming, as he wrote in The Sun, of the day she's made to parade naked through the streets while crowds chant 'Shame'?
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on Monday, May 5, 2025. Picture: AP/Abdel Kareem Hana.
Was the comment distasteful? Yes. He nearly lost his job over it. He apologised and acknowledged that free expression carries responsibility.
Kneecap's chant, 'Up Hamas, up Hezbollah' has drawn the most criticism. Distasteful? Absolutely. The atrocities committed on October 7, and the torture and murder of Israelis by members of Hamas, show the lack of nuance in a chant like that.
But were Kneecap endorsing a terror organisation or were they provocatively highlighting the genocide now unfolding before our eyes?
Drone footage of Gaza reveals the devastation. It looks like Hiroshima. Since the collapse of the ceasefire last month, at least 322 children have been killed by intense bombardment.
Footage of a medical team being killed and buried by the IDF revealed the depth of the horror. And yet, the world is more outraged by a few words from an Irish rap group.
When I studied history and saw images of concentration camps, I wondered: How did the world let this happen? How? We know now. People turned away.
A recent UN study, using data verified from three independent sources, found that 70% of Palestinians killed in residential buildings were women and children. Shouldn't this be the real source of outrage?
To criticise what Israel is doing to the Palestinian people does not make you antisemitic. That accusation is a tactic to silence dissent. Many Jewish people in Israel and around the world stand against Netanyahu and what he is doing in Gaza.
Yet, the American president recently stood in the White House and said, 'It's an honour to have Prime Minister Netanyahu with us… we have the best relationship we've ever had.'
Grotesque words, considering Gaza is now a graveyard and famine rages.
Kneecap spoke poorly-chosen words at a concert. But Netanyahu has killed 50,000 Palestinians. Perspective is needed.