Hungary bans Irish rap group Kneecap from entering country over 'antisemitic hate speech'
Kneecap were set to perform at the Sziget Festival, taking place from 6 to 11 August in Budapest.
The Belfast-based band, which often shares pro-Palestinian messages during its shows, has attracted controversy in recent months after accusing the Israeli government of committing "genocide" in Gaza.
Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said on Thursday that the band's members "repeatedly engage in antisemitic hate speech supporting terrorism and terrorist groups".
"Hungary has zero tolerance for antisemitism in any form," Kovacs said in a post on X, adding that the band's planned performance "posed a national security threat," and the band has therefore been formally banned from entering Hungary for three years.
"If they enter, expulsion will follow under international norms," Kovacs added.
Responding to the spokesman's comments, Kneecap said "there is no legal basis" for Hungary's decision and that "no member of Kneecap has ever been convicted of any crime in any country".
"It is clear that this is a political distraction and a further attempt to silence those who call out genocide against the Palestinian people," the band said in a statement on X.
During Kneecap's gig at Britain's Glastonbury Festival in June, frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, performing under the stage name Mo Chara, accused Israel of war crimes in Gaza.
Ahead of the gig, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he doesn't think Kneecap's planned performance was "appropriate".
Following Kneecap's performance at Glastonbury, a criminal investigation was launched into comments made on stage by the trio. However, police ultimately decided not to pursue further action, citing "insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence".
Kneecap called the investigation "political policing intimidation".
Mo Chara has been formally charged with a terrorism offence after allegedly displaying a flag in support of the militant group Hezbollah during a gig in November. He denies the offence.
Hezbollah is designated as a terrorist organisation by the UK and the US.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fritzl case led Badenoch to ‘reject God', says Tory leader
The case of Austrian sex offender Josef Fritzl caused Kemi Badenoch to lose her faith in God, the Conservative leader has said. In an interview with the BBC, Mrs Badenoch said she was 'never that religious' while growing up but 'believed there was a God' and 'would have defined myself as a Christian apologist'. But this changed in 2008 when she read reports that Fritzl had imprisoned and repeatedly raped his daughter, Elisabeth, in his basement over 24 years. Mrs Badenoch, whose maternal grandfather was a Methodist minister, said: 'I couldn't stop reading this story. And I read her account, how she prayed every day to be rescued. 'And I thought, I was praying for all sorts of stupid things and I was getting my prayers answered. I was praying to have good grades, my hair should grow longer, and I would pray for the bus to come on time so I wouldn't miss something. 'It's like, why were those prayers answered and not this woman's prayers? And it just, it was like someone blew out a candle.' But she insisted that while she had 'rejected God', she had not rejected Christianity and remained a 'cultural Christian', saying she wanted to 'protect certain things because I think the world that we have in the UK is very much built on many Christian values'. During her interview, which is due to be broadcast on Thursday evening, Mrs Badenoch also said her tenure as Conservative leader was going 'well', adding her job was to 'make sure that people can see that we are the only party on the centre-right'. In an apparent dig at Nigel Farage's Reform UK, she said: 'There are pretenders. We're the only party on the centre-right, and we're the only ones who still believe in values like living within our means, personal responsibility, making sure that the government is not getting involved in everything so it can focus on the things it needs to look at, like securing our borders.' She went on to defend previous comments saying the fact she had worked at McDonald's made her working class, saying: 'I had to work to live. 'That, for me, is what being working class is. It's the lifestyle that you have. You have to work, to survive.' And she argued that parents who were 'worried about their children getting stolen or snatched' had created a younger generation that lacked the 'resilience' to deal with problems in life. Responding to figures suggesting a quarter of people aged 16-24 said they had a mental disorder, Mrs Badenoch said: 'I think they think they have a mental disorder, I don't think they all have a mental disorder.' She added: 'I'm not a medical expert so it is not my expertise on exactly what we need to do to get them into work, but we should be trying to get them into work.'
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch says Josef Fritzl case made her ‘reject God'
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has revealed the case of Austrian sex offender Josef Fritzl caused her to lose faith in God. Mrs Badenoch said she was 'never that religious' while growing up but 'believed there was a God' and 'would have defined myself as a Christian apologist'. But this changed in 2008 when she read reports that Fritzl had imprisoned and repeatedly raped his daughter, Elisabeth, in his basement over 24 years. Mrs Badenoch, whose maternal grandfather was a Methodist minister, told the BBC: 'I couldn't stop reading this story. And I read her account, how she prayed every day to be rescued. 'And I thought, I was praying for all sorts of stupid things and I was getting my prayers answered. I was praying to have good grades, my hair should grow longer, and I would pray for the bus to come on time so I wouldn't miss something. 'It's like, why were those prayers answered and not this woman's prayers? And it just, it was like someone blew out a candle.' But she insisted that while she had 'rejected God', she had not rejected Christianity and remained a 'cultural Christian', saying she wanted to 'protect certain things because I think the world that we have in the UK is very much built on many Christian values'. During her interview, which is due to be broadcast on Thursday evening, Mrs Badenoch also said her tenure as Conservative leader was going 'well', adding her job was to 'make sure that people can see that we are the only party on the centre-right'. In an apparent dig at Nigel Farage's Reform UK, she said: 'There are pretenders. We're the only party on the centre-right, and we're the only ones who still believe in values like living within our means, personal responsibility, making sure that the government is not getting involved in everything so it can focus on the things it needs to look at, like securing our borders.' She went on to defend previous comments saying the fact she had worked at McDonald's made her working class, saying: 'I had to work to live. 'That, for me, is what being working class is. It's the lifestyle that you have. You have to work, to survive.' And she argued that parents who were 'worried about their children getting stolen or snatched' had created a younger generation that lacked the 'resilience' to deal with problems in life. Responding to figures suggesting a quarter of people aged 16-24 said they had a mental disorder, Mrs Badenoch said: 'I think they think they have a mental disorder, I don't think they all have a mental disorder.' She added: 'I'm not a medical expert so it is not my expertise on exactly what we need to do to get them into work, but we should be trying to get them into work.'
CBS News
21 minutes ago
- CBS News
Hate crime charges filed against suspect in shooting deaths of Israeli Embassy staffers in D.C.
Hate crime charges have been filed against the man accused in the shooting deaths of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington, D.C., earlier this year. A grand jury on Wednesday indicted Elias Rodriguez, 31, on the additional counts of hate crimes resulting in death. The indictment includes special findings which would allow the Justice Department to pursue the death penalty in the case. Rodriguez is already charged with two counts of first-degree murder, murder of foreign officials and other counts for the shooting that killed Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, two employees at the Israeli Embassy in Washington who were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum on May 21. He is also charged with causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said at the time of the shooting that the attack was being investigated as a hate crime and terrorism. President Trump has sought to expand the use of the death penalty, directing his Justice Department to seek capital punishment "for all crimes of a severity demanding its use" in a January executive order. Under federal law, the death penalty is only permitted for certain crimes like homicide or treason, and some aggravating factor — like murdering a diplomat or kidnapping resulting in murder — must be present. According to charging documents, video shows that after Rodriguez allegedly shot the couple, he walked closer to them and fired "several more times." Milgrim sat up after being shot, and he reloaded his weapon and fired again at her, striking her, the documents allege. In all, 21 rounds were fired from a 9 mm weapon, according to the court documents. A firearm magazine was found at the scene, and a handgun with its slide locked was found nearby. Federal officials traced the weapon and say records show it was purchased by Rodriguez on March 6, 2020, in Illinois. The handgun was purchased legally, according to a person briefed on the investigation. Once officers arrived at the museum, Rodriguez asked to speak with police and told them, "I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza, I am unarmed," according to the charging documents. Rodriguez was then taken into custody. FBI Washington Assistant Director Steven Jensen said the suspect, who lived in Chicago, came to Washington, D.C., on May 20 and was traveling for a work conference. He flew from Chicago O'Hare Airport to Reagan National Airport with the firearm in checked luggage and had declared the firearm, according to court documents. Rodriguez is expected to appear in Washington, D.C., federal court on his initial charges for a status hearing on Friday.
