Labour MP David Taylor also sent a letter to Glastonbury co-creator Sir Michael Eavis, pressuring him to remove Kneecap from the festival’s line-up in June. Taylor said it would be “deeply troubling” to see the band perform at the event.
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Irish Rap Trio Kneecap Cut From Major German Festivals, Loses US Visa After Anti-Israel Statements at Coachella
Mo Chara (Naoise O Caireallain), Moglai Bap (Liam Og O Hannaidh), Rich Peppiatt, and DJ Provai of Kneecap attend the 2025 BAFTAs on Feb. 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
The Irish rap group Kneecap has been dropped from two major music festivals in Germany and must look for a new sponsor for their US work visas after parting ways with their US booking agency, all of which took place after the trio shaed a “f–k Israel, free Palestine” message on stage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
While pro-Israel supporters are pressuring other music festivals to remove Kneecap from their event lineups, the Hurricane Festival in northern Germany — which is one of the largest festivals in the country — and its sister event, the Southside Festival in south of the country, announced on Friday that they have both canceled performances from the rap group scheduled for June.
“The band Kneecap will not be performing at Hurricane and Southside Festival this year,” the festivals said in a statement, without giving further details.
Both festivals will feature performances by Green Day, the American rock band that has regularly expressed support on stage for “Palestine.” Kneecap, from west Belfast, announced on X that it will instead perform their first ever German headline shows in Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne in early September. The group members go by the stage names DJ Próvaí, Mo Chara, and Móglaí Bap.
Kneecap’s US booking agency, Independent Artist Group (IAG), announced late last week that the group is no longer its client. IAG – whose clients include Billy Joel and Metallica – did not specify the reason, but the move took place between the first and second weekends of the Coachella music festival, where Kneecap stirred controversy with its anti-Israel remarks. IAG sponsored Kneecap’s US work visas, which is a common practice for booking agencies and international acts. But since being dropped by the agency, it’s unclear how the band will play shows in the US, sources told The Hollywood Reporter. Kneecap has a mostly sold-out US tour scheduled to start in October.
During their second set at Coachella earlier this month, Kneecap projected three screens on stage that featured anti-Israel messages. The first screen said, “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” followed by, “It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes.” A third screen displayed the text: “F–k Israel. Free Palestine.” During the performance, group member Mo Chara talked about Palestinians being “bombed from the … skies with nowhere to go.” Kneecap also led the audience to chant, “Free, free Palestine.”
After the anti-Israel display at Coachella, Sharon Osbourne — the wife of Black Sabbath lead singer Ozzy Osbourne and a former judge on “The X Factor” — called for the group’s visas to be revoked. Creative Community for Peace said Kneecap “turned their Coachella debut into a platform for hate,” and that Coachella “owes the Jewish community and the festival attendees an apology.” The nonprofit organization — which is comprised of prominent members of the entertainment industry — added that it warned Coachella organizers “about Kneecap’s well documented support for terrorism, but they ignored it.”
Kneecap is still scheduled to perform at a sold-out, massive outdoor show in Belfast, in Northern Ireland, in late August. The band will perform at the Belfast Vital festival at Boucher Road Playing Fields on Aug. 29 as special guests of the Irish post-punk band Fontaines DC, whose guitarist said last year “F—k Netanyahu. F—K Zionism. Free Palestine,” referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Kneecap said that 40,000 tickets for the August concert at Boucher Playing Fields sold out in 35 minutes.
Boucher Playing Fields is owned by the Belfast City Council. Some observers have expressed fury that public land is being used to host Kneecap, in light of their recent controversies. However, a spokesperson for the council told the Belfast Telegraph it is not responsible for Kneecap’s appearance, and “events programming remains a matter for the organizers.”
Kneecap has a number of shows listed on its website for the summer outside the US, and they include several major music festivals, such as Primavera Sound in Spain and Glastonbury in England in June. The group is represented by Primary Talent International outside of the US.
The British charity Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said on Monday that it has sent letters to a number of festivals, including Glastonbury, urging organizers to pull Kneecap from their line-ups. The letters also pointed out several antisemitic remarks and actions that the group has uttered done in the past, which include uploading a post on X in December 2024 that featured a cartoon with the caption “Israel is a terrorist state – F–K ISRAEL,” and a Star of David intertwined with a Nazi swastika.
“Concertgoers must be allowed to enjoy live performances without worrying about whether they may be subjected to open support for proscribed terrorist organizations that have openly declared it their mission to murder Jews,” CAA wrote. “Indeed, venues and events which seek to be inclusive must not permit their facilities to be used to promote racist, divisive and inflammatory content.”
Kneecap is also being investigated by counterterrorism police in the United Kingdom for past comments that have recently resurfaced following the group’s anti-Israel messaging at Coachella. At a concert in November 2024 at the Kentish Town Forum in London, Kneecap voiced support for Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which are US- and UK-designated terrorist organizations. It is also a crime to express support for the terror groups in the UK. A year earlier, at a concert in London in November 2023, one member of Kneecap said: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP [Member of Parliament].”
Metropolitan Police in the UK said on Sunday that videos from both shows are being assessed by its counterterrorism unit “to determine whether any further police investigation may be required,” according to The Times. Tory Party leader Kemi Badenoch demanded that police prosecute Kneecap because of the group’s “dead Tory” comment and Katie Amess – whose father, MP Sir David Amess, was stabbed to death in 2021 – said the rap group should apologize for “saying such dangerous, violent rhetoric.”
A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Monday that he does not think “individuals expressing those views should be receiving government funding,” according to the BBC. A UK government spokesperson further denounced Kneecap’s remarks in a statement cited by the Belfast Telegraph.
“We unequivocally condemn threatening remarks made towards any individual,” said the UK government spokesman. “Political intimidation and abuse must have no place in our society. We recognize the chilling effect that harassment and intimidation of elected representatives can have on our democracy. All reports of intimidation, harassment, and threats are taken extremely seriously. We work with the police and Parliament to do everything in our power to crack down on threats to elected officials.”
Meanwhile, Irish Prime Minster Micháel Martin called on Monday for the group to “urgently clarify” their comments in which they appear to show support for Hamas and Hezbollah. Martin said any support for the Iran-backed Islamist terrorist groups, both of which openly call for Israel’s destruction, “would be unacceptable.”
“I think it’s important that free speech is always facilitated and the capacity to speak out and criticize and condemn policies of others. That’s all legitimate. But in terms of life and security and safety of people, that’s a different issue,” he added.
Northern Ireland’s Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald told BBC News NI she did not agree with the group’s comments but then proceeded to make her own anti-Israel comments.
“I think the most outrageous issue facing the world today is the ongoing genocide that we are seeing in Palestine and the bombardment that continues on a daily basis, the blockading of aid, the slaughter of innocent women and children and I think that’s what our focus should be on as an international community in bringing an end to that,” she said.
After they displayed the anti-Israel message at Coachella, Kneecap’s Mo Chara told Rolling Stone magazine on April 23 that their statement was “about [the Israeli] government’s sickening actions, not ordinary people.” Kneecap further claimed in a public statement two days later that it is the victim of a “coordinated smear campaign” by those who allegedly “weaponize false accusations of antisemitism to distract, confuse, and provide cover for genocide.”
“We do not give a f–k what religion anyone practices,” the group wrote in a social media post on April 25. “We know there are massive numbers of Jewish people outraged by this genocide just as we are. 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.”
The post Irish Rap Trio Kneecap Cut From Major German Festivals, Loses US Visa After Anti-Israel Statements at Coachella first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.