The Irish rap group Kneecap denounced Hamas and Hezbollah after Micheál Martin, the Irish prime minister, called on them to “urgently clarify” their stances.
The group is from Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, and U.K. police have also announced that they are investigating the group.
Martin’s call and the investigation come after the group ignited criticism and scrutiny with its anti-Israel performance at the U.S. festival Coachella earlier this month.
Critics of the performance, which included a projection reading “F— Israel,” began calling attention to a video on social media showing a Kneecap band member at a concert last year draped in a Hezbollah flag and cheering, “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah.” In February, the group tweeted a photo of a member reading a book of statements by the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, whom Israeli killed last year, while wearing a balaclava.
“Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah,” the group wrote in a post on X on Monday night. “We condemn all attacks on civilians, always. It is never okay. We know this more than anyone, given our nation’s history.”
The group’s statements have since been parodied on X. On Tuesday, one woman who had posted the video of Kneecap cheering Hamas and Hezbollah tweeted a photo of herself reading a book titled “How to Be Parisian” in view of the Eiffel Tower, along with the caption, “Let me be unequivocal: I do not, and have never, travelled to Paris.”
Ireland and its leadership are known for vocal advocacy for Palestinians, and last year, the country recognized the state of Palestine over Israeli objections. But Martin stressed that supporting Hamas and Hezbollah is “unacceptable.”
“Both Hamas and Hezbollah have views that are absolutely — not just views, but participated in terrorist activities and appalling killing of innocent people, as witnessed on Oct. 7,” said Martin to reporters. “But it’s not clear to me that they do, that Kneecap does support Hezbollah and Hamas. And I think it’s been asserted that they have made commentary in support of both. I think they need to urgently clarify that.”
In the United Kingdom, showing support for banned terrorist organizations is a crime. U.K. police have announced they are investigating that video along with another of a concert from 2023 in which a band member says, “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”
The group said the video clip was deliberately taken out of context and was “exploited and weaponised.”
Several Jewish voices criticized Kneecap following the Coachella performance, with Sharon Osbourne calling on the Trump administration to revoke Kneecap’s work visas ahead of its upcoming U.S. tour.
On Friday, prior to Martin’s statement, Kneecap defended its activism in another statement on X, writing that it “faced a coordinated smear campaign.”
“We do not give a f*ck what religion anyone practices. We know there are massive numbers of Jewish people outraged by this genocide just as we are,” the statement read. “What we care about is that governments of the countries we perform in are enabling some of the most horrific crimes of our lifetimes — and we will not stay silent.”
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