08-05-2025
Calls for Kneecap boycott spread across Europe
European venues are facing pressure to ditch Kneecap ahead of a planned continental tour.
The Irish rappers are being investigated by a Metropolitan Police anti-terror unit over on-stage shouts of ' up Hamas, Up Hezbollah ' and 'The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.'
These comments have led to widespread calls for Glastonbury Festival organisers to remove the group from the lineup, where they are scheduled to perform on the Saturday.
The controversy has extended to Europe, where prominent Jewish groups are encouraging venues to boycott the band.
Kneecap are set to play at a string of European events including the Netherlands, Spain, and France, which has the largest Jewish community outside of Israel and the US.
But the European Jewish Congress (EJC), which represents communities in 37 states, has called for the band's upcoming gigs to be cancelled.
Raya Kalenova, the EJC executive vice-president, said: 'Freedom of expression has limits and those freedoms cannot include the right to support violence and terrorism.
'We call on concert venues to cancel these events.'
Kneecap's tour plans also include dates in Greece, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic, where they are billed to play the Rock for People festival.
It is understood that event organisers have been contacted with requests to pull the Kneecap gig.
The Federation of the Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic has echoed calls for the band to be shunned.
They said: 'We fully share the concerns about the Northern Irish band Kneecap and we find their political activism worrying and alarming.
'In our view, any legitimising of extremism and supporting terrorism in the public space is unacceptable. We would like to see the band banned from their tour.'
German gigs cancelled
The increasing pressure for a European boycott comes after venues in Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin quietly cancelled Kneecap's planned gigs without any official statement.
It is understood that there had been concern from within the Jewish community in Germany about venues hosting Kneecap in light of the Met Police investigation.
The Belfast-born trio composed of Liam Og O hAnnaidh, Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh, have become known for songs fusing comic and pro-Republican lyrics.
There were calls for the group to be kicked out of the US in April following a performance at the Coachella festival in California where they projected a message stating 'F--- Israel'.
Following the concert, footage was shared which showed a band member apparently shouting, 'Up Hamas, Up Hezbollah,' at a London show in 2024. One band member could be seen draped in a Hezbollah flag.
Both groups are proscribed terrorist organisations, and support for them can be deemed an offence under the UK's Terrorism Act 2000.
Further footage surfaced from 2023 of the band shouting 'the only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP'.
The chants were condemned by the families of murdered MPs Jo Cox and Sir David Amess. Kneecap later apologised.
Footage from both gigs was referred to the Metropolitan Police, and an anti-terror unit is currently looking into potential offences.
There have been high-profile calls for Kneecap gigs, including a planned set at Glastonbury, to be dropped in light of this investigation. Several UK gigs, including one at the Eden Project, have been cancelled.
'Dangerous and irresponsible'
Dan Jarvis, a Home Office minister, warned Glastonbury organisers to 'think very carefully' about who performs at the festival amid calls for Kneecap to be removed from the line-up.
Mr Jarvis described the group's remarks as 'dangerous and irresponsible'.
Amid the furore, Kneecap released a statement on their views, saying: 'Let us be unequivocal – we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah. We condemn all attacks on civilians, always. It is never okay. We know this more than anyone, given our nation's history.
'We also reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual. Ever. An extract of footage, deliberately taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponised, as if it were a call to action.'
The band has previously clashed with the Conservative Party.
In 2023, the band applied for £14,250 of British taxpayer funding through the Music Export Growth Scheme, intended to support UK acts abroad. Kemi Badenoch, then-business secretary, blocked the grant, which was later passed by Labour.
But Kneecap brought a legal challenge or discrimination which the incoming Labour government did not contest as there was 'no public interest'.
