Irish Band Kneecap: Promoters of Antisemitism

"Kneecap has outwardly supported antisemitism, genocide, and the indiscriminate murder of civilians."

"Allowing them to play in Canada would be a stain on our country's reputation."

"By allowing Kneecap to perform on Indigenous lands, Live Nation and the MRG Group are not only endorsing rhetoric that promotes division, hate, and glorification of terror -- they are violating the spirit and obligations of the Treaties of Peace and Friendship."

Group of Canadian Indigenous leaders' open letter

Irish rap band Kneecap performs at the Glastonbury festival in Pilton, England, on June 28, 2025. Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images

 

 Identifying the Irish hip-hop group Kneecap for their glorification of terrorism and promotion of antisemitism,e a group of Canadian Indigenous leaders has initiated a move to have the controversial group's shows cancelled in Canada. Based in Belfast, Kneecap is comprised of Liam Og O hAnnaidh, Naoise O Caireallain, and JJ O Dochartaigh booked for a number of concerts elsewhere that have been cancelled in response to the band's support for Palestinians and damning slander of Israel.

 

One of the group, O hAnnaidh, has been charged under the British Terrorism Act in consequence of his having waved the flag of Hezbollah, the Lebanese terror group, at an event last November, for which he is at the present time out on bail. That charge alone should make him inadmissible to Canada under Canadian law. The group has responded through social media to the charged offence, claiming political motivation.

 

The letter by the Indigenous leaders points out that having voiced support for Hezbollah and Hamas, both listed terrorist groups in Canada, the trio should by law not be permitted entry to Canada and particularly for the purpose of performing on Indigenous land, as a result of the inhumane values they uphold. Four appearances were planned for Canada -- two in Toronto, another two in Vancouver -- all four of which to take place in October, have been sold out. 

 

Following from Coachella, Kneecap kept up its 'Free Palestine' chant at London's Wide Awake Festival in May. AFP

 

 The letter signatories have appealed to Live Nation, the promoter of the concerts, and the manager of the venues, MRG Group -- at History in Toronto, and the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver -- to cancel the appearances. Elsewhere their concerts have been cancelled, with politicians calling for additional cancellations in response to Kneecap's set played at California's Coachella's music festival in April where they accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

 

They have as well compared Israel's military response to the Palestinian Hamas incursion into southern Israel on 7 October 2023 by thousands of terrorists -- incited by the Hamas leadership to indulge in the basest of inhumane acts including group rape, savage mutilations, and mass murder of children, women and the elderly; the final act of inhumane atrocities after burning entire families in their homes, the abduction of Israelis as hostages into Gaza where they were and are still, kept prisoner in Gaza's maze of underground tunnels, suffering privation and torture -- to the British oppression of Ireland during the Troubles.

 

On stage in California, O hAnnaidh called out: "The Irish not so long ago were persecuted by the Brits, but we were never bombed from the f--king skies with nowhere to go! The Palestinians have nowhere to go -- it's their f--king home and they're bombing them from the sky. If you're not calling it a genocide what the f--k are you calling it?" 

 

 

A video from a 2023 concert shows a band member saying "Up Hamas, Up Hezbollah", with another band member saying "The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill  your local MP." 

 

One of the letter signatories, Grand Chief Harvey Yesno, spoke of Indigenous leaders speaking out to reassert their voices within Canada. The group, Chief Yesno explained, is involved with Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem, an international gathering that expresses Indigenous solidarity with Israel, representing a global group of Indigenous people from various countries.

 

Kneecap had played a venue at England's Glastonbury Festival in late June. Leader of the U.K. Conservative Party, Kemi Bdenoch, called on the British Broadcasting Corporation to eschew broadcasting Kneecap's show, but to no avail, when the BBC responded that it does not ban artists. And here in Canada, neither Live Nation nor MRG Group responded to the Indigenous leaders' letter.  

 

Police officers remove a counter-protester from the middle of supporters of Kneecap on June 18 

"We're in a land of freedom to express  yourself ... so that's allowed throughout the country. But the difference is, is when you're inciting hate and violence and acknowledging who -- Canada has put some of these organizations as terrorist organizations. That's where we draw the line."

"So, our concern there is the defilement of the land, because we believe that, as the Indigenous people on these lands, that we have a responsibility to point out, hey, wait a minute, you can't be doing that."

"You can't be inciting violence here on our lands because the defilement of the land causes things to happen amongst the people."

Grand Chief Harvey Yesno, former chief Eabametoong First Nation, grand chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation