Kneecap played the biggest set of their career thus far at Glastonbury Festival on Saturday, with the West Holts stage hitting capacity nearly an hour before the Irish rap trio’s set. After the BBC opted not to air the show live due to their growing controversy in the U.K., Kneecap did not hesitate to get political, leading the crowd in several chants of “fuck Keir Starmer” and “free Palestine.”
“Mo Chara was in the courts, the Westminster courts this month,” said member Móglaí Bap of his bandmate, who is currently facing terror charges in the U.K. for allegedly supporting Hamas and Hezbollah, which are both considered terror organizations by the U.K. government.
“It’s not the first time there was a miscarriage of justice for an Irish person in the British justice system,” Bap added, inciting overwhelming cheers from the audience.
BBC confirmed earlier on Saturday that Kneecap’s set would not be livestreamed but would be made available on demand.
Though Kneecap did not address the BBC’s decision specifically during their set, looking out at all the Palestinian flags in the audience, Chara said: “The BBC editor is going to have some fucking job.”
Though no stranger to provoking strong reactions with political messaging, especially when it comes to advocating for the reunification of Ireland and a free Palestine, Kneecap has recently found itself in legal trouble in the U.K. After the group’s Coachella performance — in which they displayed messages including “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people” and “it is being enabled by the U.S.” — brought global attention, the U.K. counter-terrorism police opened an investigation into them.
Speaking about the group’s Coachella appearance, Chara added: “Everyone in that fucking tent agreed with me. The Israel and U.S. media don’t want to believe that young Americans agree with us.”
A video from November allegedly showing member Mo Chara holding up the Hezbollah flag and chanting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” resulted in him being charged under the country’s Terrorism Act. In response, the band said that they “do not, and have never supported, Hamas or Hezbollah” and claimed that the footage was “taken out of context” as part of a “smear campaign.” Chara appeared in court in London on June 18, and was granted unconditional bail until his next hearing on Aug. 20, meaning that the group could still play at Glastonbury. However, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told The Sun that he doesn’t “think that’s appropriate.”
“I think we need to come down really clearly on this,” Starmer said. “This is about the threats that shouldn’t be made, I won’t say too much because there’s a court case on, but I don’t think that’s appropriate.”
On Instagram, Kneecap responded: “You know what’s ‘not appropriate’ Keir?! Arming a fucking genocide.”
Starmer isn’t the only politician who has called for Kneecap to be pulled from the Glasto lineup. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch posted on X that the BBC, which livestreams sets from the festival, should not show their performance.
“As a publicly funded platform, the BBC should not be rewarding extremism,” she wrote. A BBC spokesperson later responded (via BBC News): “Whilst the BBC doesn’t ban artists, our plans will ensure that our programming will meet our editorial guidelines. Decisions about our output will be made in the lead-up to the festival.”
Despite the political controversy, Kneecap has received support from some big names in the U.K. music industry like Massive Attack and Johnny Marr. In a post on his socials about calls for Kneecap not to play Glastonbury, the former Smiths guitarist said the festival “has always had a political aspect.”
“Oppression fears artistic expression,” he wrote. “I respect all musicians who use their platform to speak out against injustice, who promote compassion and equality and give voice to the voiceless.”
Read the full article here
