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Irish Rap Group Kneecap Threatens to Sue Industry Critics Calling for Glastonbury Ban After Anti-Israel Remarks
Members of Kneecap pose on the red carpet at the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) Awards in Dublin, Ireland, February 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo
The Irish rap group Kneecap has threatened to sue music industry figures who have allegedly called for organizers of the Glastonbury Festival in the United Kingdom to remove the trio from its lineup of performers following anti-Israel comments and other offensive remarks made by group members.
Kneecap is currently being investigated by counter-terrorism police in the UK after footage emerged online of them shouting “up Hezbollah, up Hamas” and “kill your local MP [Member of Parliament]” at concerts in 2023 and 2024. Both Hamas and Hezbollah are designated by the UK as terrorist organizations, and it is illegal in the UK to express support for the two Iran-backed Islamist groups.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed on Monday that a man was interviewed in Belfast on Sunday as part of an ongoing investigation related to the videos and that there are “grounds for further investigation into potential offenses” relating to the footage. The clips surfaced online after Kneecap stirred controversy by projecting anti-Israel messages on stage during their performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California in April. “F–k Israel, Free Palestine” and “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people” were both projected onto the stage backdrop.
Meanwhile, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said on Monday he thinks the UK and Irish governments should “consider their actions” in relation to providing any fundings to Kneecap, RTE reported. During ministerial question time at the Northern Ireland Assembly, Lyons was asked if he thinks the UK and Irish governments should “distance themselves from the funding of racist, antisemitic, and sectarian state sponsorship in the view of Kneecap.”
“There are always things we can disagree with which other people do in the arts sphere, but this is going far beyond anything which comes anywhere close to dealing with artistic license,” Lyons said in response. “This is the glorification of terrorism and this is also supporting, calling for violence towards MPs. It is incumbent on us to call that out, and I would also call on the UK government and the Irish government to consider their actions in this regard.”
Lyons added that neither his department “nor any of its arm’s length bodies” have provided any funding to Kneecap since 2017.
Glastonbury organizers have been facing pressure to ban the group from the iconic music festival from music industry figures, politicians in the UK, and also pro-Israel supporters in the entertainment industry, including Sharon Osbourne, a former judge on “The X Factor” and the wife of Black Sabbath lead singer Ozzy Osbourne. A number of music industry figures recently sent an email to Glastonbury founder Emily Eavis and two other organizers of the festival, urging them to ban Kneecap from the event set to take place from June 25-29, the Daily Mail reported.
In response, Kneecap’s legal team, Phoenix Law, issued a formal letter to those individuals, threatening to sue them for pressuring Glastonbury organizers to drop the band from the music festival. Kneecap said the music industry figures should issue an “immediate and unequivocal” apology or face legal action.
“Your correspondence seeks to monopolize your status within the industry to impose direct and concerted pressure on Glastonbury, to restrict freedom of expression,” said the legal letter, as reported by the Daily Mail. “Such a direct and coordinated approach seeks to create a chilling effect upon the wider music industry whereby those who hold opposing views, will seek to impose their own view on the wider industry,” it further stated.
“Whilst our clients feel particularly strongly about the freedom of expression, we cannot allow false statements to be asserted dressed up as statements of fact,” Kneecap’s representatives said in the legal letter. “To that end, we write to put you on notice that we are now formally instructed to commence high court civil proceedings for damages for the damage you have inflicted on our client’s reputation. However, before our clients formally seek to issue pre action correspondence, we write to offer you the opportunity to resolve these matters by way of an immediate and unequivocal apology.”
Glastonbury organizers have yet to comment on Kneecap’s offensive remarks and the pressure they are facing to remove the Irish group from the music festival.
So far, Kneecap have been dropped from a number of music festivals this summer — including two in Germany and the Eden Project concert series in the UK — in light of their offensive comments. Others, such as the Wide Awake Festival in southern London, have not canceled their performance and defended the band.
In April, Kneecap apologized and clarified its remarks from 2023 and 2024 in a released statement.
“Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah. We condemn all attacks on civilians,” the group said in part. “We also reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual. An extract of footage, deliberately taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponized, as if it were a call to action.”
In the same statement, Kneecap continued to make anti-Israel remarks, accusing the Jewish state of genocide. The group has made similar anti-Israel comments many times and continues to do so on social media.
“Israel is the most depraved regime on earth,” Kneecap wrote in a post on X on May 14. “They lie day after day and are starving an entire population to death, whilst a few miles away Israeli kids eat fast food … This is supported by Western governments and it’s unforgivable.”
On May 9, the band shared on X a picture of the message “Israel is committing a genocide” being projected on the former Israeli Embassy in Dublin. Kneecap said it projected the anti-Israel message on the embassy last November, before the embassy closed amid tensions between Dublin and Jerusalem over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
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Tourists Stranded in Israel as Sirens Sound, Missiles Fly, Planes Grounded
FILE PHOTO: A worker at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel sits at the arrivals terminal as all flights from and to the airport are indicated cancel, following an Israeli attack on Iran. June 13, 2025 Photo: REUTERS/Tomer Appelbaum
Woken by air raid sirens, hurrying to bomb shelters, scouring travel sites for escape routes — thousands of tourists in Israel have found their holiday plans upended by the country’s conflict with Iran.
Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran in the early hours of Friday, shutting down the national airspace and telling people to remain where they were as the arch Middle East foes traded deadly blows.
The violence has left around 40,000 tourists blocked in Israel, according to the Ministry of Tourism. Airlines are cancelling flights until further notice, leaving travelers to decide whether to wait it out or seek costly detours through neighboring countries.
Justin Joyner, from California, is on holiday in Jerusalem with his father John, who lives in Nevada, and his son. They had expected some possible disruption, with Israel locked in a months-long conflict against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
But, like most locals, they did not foresee a whole new war.
“We didn’t expect Israel to attack Iran. That is a completely different level of escalation,” Joyner said from his hotel in East Jerusalem, which, for the past two nights, has seen Iranian ballistic missiles flash overhead like a rain of meteorites.
“It’s unsettling to feel the shockwaves of intercepted missiles above you, and to take your family down to a bomb shelter. That’s just something we don’t think about in America,” he said.
Dr. Greer Glazer, who lives in Cleveland and was in Jerusalem for a nursing training program, faces a race down 10 flights of stairs in her hotel to reach the shelter when sirens sound — as they have done regularly since Friday night.
“I feel safe,” she said, “but waking from a dead sleep and running to the safe room, that’s been the hardest. My family is scared to death … They think it’s 24/7 destruction, but it’s not like that.”
THE JORDAN ROUTE
Glazer had been due to return home on June 29, but is looking to bring forward her departure. The easiest exit route is via land crossings into neighboring Jordan and then a flight out of Amman airport which has been operating in daylight hours.
Israeli media reported that the transgender US influencer Caitlyn Jenner, who only flew into Israel on Thursday for Tel Aviv’s since-canceled Gay Pride Parade, had left through Jordan.
Hours earlier, she had been photographed drinking a glass of red wine in a bomb shelter. “What an incredible way it has been to celebrate Shabbat,” she wrote on X.
Not everyone is rushing to leave.
Karen Tuhrim is visiting from London to see her daughter, who lives in Tel Aviv. “Within two days of being here, Israel attacked Iran. So now I’m stuck,” she said.
Unlike Jerusalem, Tel Aviv has taken direct hits from the Iranian missiles and Tuhrim has had to dip in and out of her hotel’s shelter. But she said she felt safe and was happy to be near her daughter.
“For me, personally, at the moment, I feel better being here than in London, watching it all on the news, knowing my daughter is here. So, for now, we’re good.”
Israel’s Ministry of Tourism has set up a round-the-clock virtual help desk in English and Hebrew for stranded travelers.
But for anyone stuck here, all the museums are closed until further notice, entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem is barred to non-residents and many shops remain shuttered.
“The streets and shops are empty,” said Jerusalem resident Anwar Abu Lafi, who saw no quick end to the gloom.
“People are yearning for a break, to find something good in this existing darkness. We are deluding ourselves into thinking that the future will be better,” he said.
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4 Killed by Missile in Arab Town of Tamra, Including a Mother and Her Two Daughters
Illustrative: A Magen David Adom ambulance. Photo: David King via Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – In the early hours of Sunday morning, the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel was struck by an Iranian missile, tragically claiming the lives of four women from the same family, including a mother and her two daughters, aged 13 and 20.
The missile caused severe damage, nearly collapsing the three- to four-story building where they lived.
Emergency services responded quickly, evacuating 14 injured individuals and providing care for eight others suffering from shock at Rambam Hospital in Haifa.
Despite the devastation, the community and first responders showed remarkable resilience and solidarity, working tirelessly to assist those affected.
Eli Bin, director general of Magen David Adom, described the scene as one of severe destruction but praised the swift and professional response of rescue teams. Paramedic Adnan Abu Rumi, one of the first on site, emphasized the dedication of emergency personnel in managing the crisis.
Residents like Hamudi, who was injured but survived, shared heartfelt accounts of the sudden impact, underscoring the strength of families and neighbors coming together in difficult times.
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Trump Sees Peace Between Iran and Israel Soon, Eyes Putin Role
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Photo: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov
Despite evidence that the conflict between Israel and Iran is escalating, US President Donald Trump expressed optimism on Sunday that peace would come soon and cited the possibility that Russia’s Vladimir Putin could help.
In a social media post, Trump said there were many unspecified meetings about the issue happening and encouraged the two countries to make a deal. And in an interview with ABC News, he said he was open to Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine and who has resisted Trump’s attempts to broker a ceasefire with Kyiv, serving as a mediator.
Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other overnight into Sunday, killing scores.
“Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site. “We will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran! Many calls and meetings now taking place.”
Trump did not offer any details about the meetings or evidence of progress toward peace. His assertion contradicted comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said on Saturday that Israel’s campaign against Iran would intensify.
A White House spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how Trump and the White House were working to de-escalate the situation in the Middle East.
Trump told ABC News that Iran wanted to make a deal and indicated something like the Israel strikes would accelerate that. “Something like this had to happen because I think even from both sides, but something like this had to happen. They want to talk, and they will be talking,” Trump said, according to ABC reporter Rachel Scott. “May have forced a deal to go quicker, actually.”
The United States has engaged in talks with Iran about its nuclear program and Trump has told reporters previously that the talks were going well. But another round of discussions scheduled for Sunday in Oman was canceled after the Israeli and Iranian strikes.
Trump said he and Putin had discussed the situation in the Middle East on Saturday in a call that focused more on that conflict than the Russian war in Ukraine.
“He is ready. He called me about it,” Trump said about Putin serving as a mediator, according to Scott. “We had a long talk about it. We talked about this more than his situation. This is something I believe is going to get resolved.”
Trump, who portrays himself as a peacemaker and has drawn criticism from his political base for not being able to prevent the Israel-Iran conflict, cited other disputes that he took responsibility for solving, including between India and Pakistan, and lamented not receiving more praise for doing so.
“I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that’s OK, the PEOPLE understand. MAKE THE MIDDLE EAST GREAT AGAIN!” he wrote on Truth Social.
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