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Irish Rap Trio Kneecap Sees More Concerts Canceled as British Artists Express Solidarity With Anti-Israel Remarks

Members of Kneecap pose on the red carpet at the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) Awards in Dublin, Ireland, Feb. 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

A slew of British musicians spoke out on Wednesday in defense of the Northern Irish rap group Kneecap, who are facing widespread criticism and the cancellation of several scheduled performances after making antisemitic, anti-Israel, and other offensive comments.

In a statement posted on Instagram, the trip-hop collective Massive Attack claimed politicians and “right-wing journalists” are “strategically concocting moral outrage over the stage utterings of a young punk band.” The collective added that these critics have no right “to intimidate festival events into acts of political censorship” while “simultaneously obfuscating or even ignoring the genocide” of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Massive Attack said emphasis should be put more on the alleged persecution of Palestinians, and less on the Irish band.

“Kneecap are not the story. Gaza is the story. Genocide is the story,” the collective added. “And the silence, acquiescence, and support of those crimes against humanity by the elected British government is the real story.” Massive Attack concluded by expressing solidarity with “all artists with the moral courage to speak out against Israeli war crimes, and the ongoing persecution and slaughter of the Palestinian people.”

Massive Attack has voiced support for “Palestine” for more than 30 years, and accuses Israel of “occupation” and “apartheid.” The collective has boycotted performances in Israel since 1999.

Dozens of other major acts and artists signed a statement from the London-based independent record label Heavenly Recordings in support of Kneecap, who is signed to the label. Musicians including Fontaines DC, IDLES, Primal Scream,Pulp, Enter Shikari, English Teacher, and Sleaford Mods added their signatures to a statement titled: “We stand for freedom of expression.”

“As artists, we feel the need to register our opposition to any political repression of artistic freedom,” the statement read in part.

“The question of agreeing with Kneecap’s political views is irrelevant: it is in the key interests of every artist that all creative expression be protected in a society that values culture, and that this interference campaign is condemned and ridiculed,” the statement continued. “Furthermore, it also the duty of key leadership figures in the music industry to actively defend artistic freedom of expression – rather than seek to silence views which oppose their own.”

These artists have come out to defend Kneecap after the band’s performance in April at the Coachella festival, where they projected an anti-Israel message that said: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. F–k Israel. Free Palestine.”

Two concerts in the United Kingdom by the Northern Irish rap group Kneecap scheduled for this summer have been cancelled in light of the trio’s offensive comments.

The Eden Sessions are a series of live outdoor music concerts held in the summer in the Eden Project, a large botanical garden-like visitor attraction located in Cornwall, England. Eden Sessions Limited, which organizes the concert series as a joint venture between the Eden Project and global live events company AEG Presents, announced on Tuesday that the Kneecap show with Mike Skinner at Eden Project scheduled for July 4 has been canceled. Ticket purchasers will be contacted and fully refunded. A specific reason for the show’s cancellation was not given.

Shortly afterward, Kneecap announced on Facebook that it would instead be performing at the multi-purpose complex Plymouth Pavilions in Devon on the same date. However, organizers of the concert have since canceled that show as well, due to safety concerns.

“Having taken advice from relevant authorities and agencies, it has been agreed that Kneecap’s performance at our venue will no longer go ahead,” organizers announced in a statement, which was posted on the homepage of the venue’s website. “The safety of our valued visitors is always our primary concern and as such we feel confident in this decision – no further communications will be entered into.”

Last week, two Kneecap concerts in Germany scheduled for this summer were also canceled.

After the Coachella scandal, the UK’s Metropolitan Police said late last week that its counter-terrorism unit would be investigating videos from the band’s past concerts where they made other offensive remarks. Police are assessing footage from a London gig in November 2023 where a Kneecap band member said, “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP [member of Parliament].” Police are also assessing videos from a November 2024 concert in London during which one member of the group shouted “Free Palestine … up Hamas, up Hezbollah.” The Kneecap member had a Hezbollah flag draped over his shoulder when he made the remarks.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are designated by the UK as terrorist organizations. It is a criminal offense under the UK’s Terrorism Act of 2000 to “invite support for a proscribed organization.” The UK’s Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch demanded that Kneecap be prosecuted for allegedly calling for the death of Tory MPs.

Kneecap claimed in a statement on Monday that “we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah.” The Belfast-based group also rejected “any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual. Ever.” They additionally apologized to the families of murdered British MPs Sir David Amess and Jo Cox for the “Kill your local MP” comment.

The official spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer rejected Kneecap’s statement, calling it “half-hearted” and saying that the trio “should apologize.”

“We completely reject in the strongest possible terms the comments that they’ve made, particularly in relation to MPs and intimidation as well as obviously the situation in the Middle East,” the spokesperson added, according to LBC. “It’s right that the police are looking into these videos.”

Kneecap’s manager Daniel Lambert defended the band during an appearance on RTÉ’s “Prime Time” on Tuesday night. “What they said at Coachella was the right thing to say,” he said in part. “It’s a message aimed at governments who are enabling a genocide in Gaza.”

A number of politicians in the UK – including Labour MP for Hemel Hempstead David Taylor, UK Secretary of State for Science Peter Kyle, and Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney – as well as other pro-Israel supporters have publicly called for Kneecap to be removed from several festival performances because of their hateful remarks. UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) said on Wednesday it wrote to “all the venues and festivals” set to host performances by Kneecap this summer, “pointing out the band’s history of abusive and unlawful behavior and the legal issues that the venue may face if it hosts the band.” UKLFI sent letters to festivals including Glastonbury,  the Green Man in Wales, 2000 Trees, TRNSMT in Scotland, Finsbury Park, Wythenshawe Park, and the Wide Awake Festival.

“It is not acceptable to parade the support of evil, genocidal groups as terrorist chic in an effort to appear radical onstage. Nor is it legal in the United Kingdom,” said a spokesperson for UKLFI. “It is particularly egregious to glorify terrorists at music festivals, given that innocent young people at the Nova festival in Israel were slaughtered by these very terrorist groups. We are pleased that having been alerted to this issue, concert venues are taking action against the risk of this happening again.”

In wake of the Coachella incident, Kneecap lost its US work visas, even though they have a North American tour set for later this year, and partied ways with their American booking agency, Independent Artist Group.

The post Irish Rap Trio Kneecap Sees More Concerts Canceled as British Artists Express Solidarity With Anti-Israel Remarks 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.

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