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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.
The post Irish Rap Group Kneecap Threatens to Sue Industry Critics Calling for Glastonbury Ban After Anti-Israel Remarks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel’s Supreme Court Orders Improved Food for Security Prisoners
Israel’s Supreme Court. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – Israel’s Supreme Court on Sunday instructed the Prison Service (Shabas) to guarantee adequate food supplies for security prisoners, ruling that current conditions fall short of minimum legal standards. The decision followed an appeal filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
In a 2–1 ruling, the court found that the food situation posed “a risk of non-compliance with legal standards.” Justice Dafna Barak-Erez stressed that the matter concerned “basic conditions necessary for survival, as required by law,” not comfort or privilege. Justice Ofer Grosskopf agreed, noting the state had not shown the policy was consistently applied to all inmates.
Justice David Mintz dissented, maintaining that the existing policy already met legal requirements.
The court underscored that Israel’s legal obligations remain binding, even in light of the ongoing hostage crisis in Gaza and the fact that many of the prisoners include Hamas members involved in the October 7, 2023 attack.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir condemned the ruling, arguing that while hostages in Gaza lack protection, “terrorist murderers, kidnappers, and rapists in prison” benefit from the Court’s intervention. He added that prisoners would continue receiving only the minimum conditions required by law.
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Ukrainian Government Building Set Ablaze in Record Russian Airstrike
Illustrative. More damage caused by the Russian drone that hit the Perlina school in Kyiv, Ukraine, Oct. 30, 2024. Photo: Jewish community JCC in Kyiv, Kyiv municipality, and Yan Dobronosov
i24 News – The Ukrainian government’s main building in Kyiv was hit overnight Saturday by Russian airstrikes for the first time since the war, igniting a fire in the building, authorities said. Firefighters are working to put out the flames.
“The government building was damaged by an enemy attack — the roof and upper floors,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko said. The blaze is is burning in the area of the office of the prime minister.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched a total of 805 drones and 13 missiles overnight on Ukraine — a record number since the start of the war.
Also as a result of the strike, a baby and a young woman were killed after a nine-story residential building was hit in the Svyatoshynsky district, also in Kyiv. Rescuers are still looking for a third body, authorities said. A woman was also reported killed in the strike in Novopavlivka village.
“The world must respond to this destruction not only with words, but also with actions. We need to increase sanctions pressure – primarily against Russian oil and gas. We need new restrictions that will hit the Kremlin’s military machine. And most importantly, Ukraine needs weapons. Something that will stop the terror and prevent Russia from trying to kill Ukrainians every day,” wrote Sviridenko after the attack.
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‘Trump’s Legacy Crumbles’: Israelis Call on US President to End Gaza War
Israeli protestors take part in a rally demanding the immediate release of the hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, and the end of war in Gaza, in Jerusalem September 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, issuing direct appeals to US President Donald Trump to force an end to the Gaza war and secure the release of the hostages.
Protesters packed a public square outside the military headquarters, waving Israeli flags and holding placards with images of the hostages. Some carried signs, including one that read: ‘Trump’s legacy crumbles as the Gaza war persists.’
Another said: “PRESIDENT TRUMP, SAVE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”
“We think that Trump is the only man in the world who has authority over Bibi, that can force Bibi to do this,” said Tel Aviv resident Boaz, 40, referring to the Israeli prime minister.
There is growing despair among many Israelis at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has ordered the military to capture a major urban center where hostages may be held.
Families of the hostages and their supporters fear the assault on Gaza City could endanger their loved ones, a concern the military leadership shares, according to Israeli officials.
Orna Neutra, the mother of an Israeli soldier who was killed on October 7, 2023 and whose body is being held in Gaza by militants, accused the government of abandoning its citizens.
“We truly hope that the United States will push both sides to finally reach a comprehensive deal that will bring them home,” she told the rally. Her son, Omer, is also American.
Tel Aviv has witnessed weekly demonstrations that have grown in size, with protesters demanding that the government secure a ceasefire with Hamas to obtain the release of hostages. Organizers said Saturday night’s rally was attended by tens of thousands. A large demonstration was also held in Jerusalem.
There are 48 hostages held in Gaza. Israeli officials believe that around 20 are still alive. Palestinian terrorists abducted 251 people from Israel on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led its attack. Most of the hostages who have been released were freed after indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
NO PURPOSE
Trump had pledged a swift end to the war in Gaza during his presidential campaign, but nearly eight months into his second term, a resolution has remained elusive. On Friday, he said that Washington was engaged in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas.
Israeli forces have carried out heavy strikes on the suburbs of Gaza City, where, according to a global hunger monitor, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are facing famine. Israeli officials acknowledge that hunger exists in Gaza but deny that the territory is facing famine. On Saturday, the military warned civilians in Gaza City to leave and move to southern Gaza.
There are hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering in the city that was home to around a million before the war.
A video released by Hamas on Friday featured Israeli hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24, saying that he was being held in Gaza City and feared being killed by the military’s assault on the city. Rights groups have condemned such videos of hostages as inhumane. Israel says that it is psychological warfare.
The war has become unpopular among some segments of Israeli society, and opinion polls show that most Israelis want Netanyahu’s right-wing government to negotiate a permanent ceasefire with Hamas that secures the release of the hostages.
“The war has no purpose at all, except for violence and death,” said Boaz from Tel Aviv. Adam, 48, said it had become obvious that soldiers were being sent to war for “nothing.”
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since it launched its retaliatory war after Hamas fighters attacked Israel from Gaza in October 2023. Around 1,200 people were killed in that attack on southern Israel.
The terrorist group, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades but today controls only parts of the enclave, on Saturday once again said that it would release all hostages if Israel agreed to end the war and withdraw its forces from Gaza.
Netanyahu is pushing for an all-or-nothing deal that would see all of the hostages released at once and Hamas surrendering.
The prime minister has said Gaza City is a Hamas stronghold and capturing it is necessary to defeat the Palestinian militant group, whose October 2023 attack on Israel led to the war.
Hamas has acknowledged it would no longer govern Gaza once the war ends but has refused to discuss laying down its weapons.