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Kneecap Get Kneecapped
Kanye West walking on the red carpet during the 67th Grammy Awards held at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA on February 2, 2025. Photo: Elyse Jankowski/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
JNS.org – The most successful musicians are those who understand that their art is about spectacle as well as sound. When it comes to popular music, the more controversy there is, the greater the spectacle becomes.
Some of the most well-known artists in modern times have embraced this tactic wholeheartedly. In 1967, the year that The Doors released their magnificent debut album, lead singer Jim Morrison attracted national headlines when police officers dragged him off the stage at a concert in New Haven, Conn., accusing him of inciting a riot. A decade later, as punk emerged, The Sex Pistols achieved international notoriety when they appeared on a primetime show in the United Kingdom and proceeded to swear their way through an interview with the inebriated host, a fellow named Bill Grundy. Much more recently, Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance at the Super Bowl in New Orleans this past February attracted a record number of viewers for his foray into America’s cultural and racial cauldron, set against the background of his personal quarrels with fellow rappers Lil Wayne and Drake.
The key is to use spectacle as a means of enhancing the appreciation levels of your audience, not something that is easy to do. Kanye West is a good example of an artist who has alienated many fans and admirers with his antisemitic, misogynistic, conspiracy-laden posts on social media, because he manages to be both offensive and yawn-inducing at the same time. In that regard, Kneecap—the Irish rap trio from Belfast whose show at the latest Coachella festival featured a visual display declaring “F*** Israel, Free Palestine”—are more Kanye than Kendrick.
In musical terms, Kneecap do what rappers are supposed to do—sharing stories that shine a light on their lives, their environment, their clothes, their tastes and their attitudes through words that mix Gaelic phrases with English ones. I wouldn’t call them terrible, but neither would I call them exceptional. Anyway, with Kneecap, it’s clear that their sound is less important to them than the spectacle that accompanies it.
To begin with, there’s their name. At the height of the conflict in Northern Ireland from the 1960s to the 1990s, the terrorists of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) turned a noun into a verb. “Kneecapping” was a primitive, nasty form of punishment meted out by the IRA, who sought to exclude the British from any role in the policing of Catholic areas in the six counties, to offenders. If the IRA caught you dealing drugs, engaging in petty theft or any other kind of “anti-social” behavior, they would punish you by firing a bullet into the area around your knee, leaving you alive but disabled.
This method was a component of their broader brutality that manifestly failed to dislodge the Brits, but was used to deadly effect against innocents they deemed as enemies—like the 10 Protestant laborers murdered in cold blood by an IRA squad in January 1976; or the horrible fate of Jean McConville, who in 1972 was kidnapped in the full view of her 10 children and summarily executed on trumped-up accusations of spying for the British.
Kneecap have turned this sordid history into a celebration, directing their bile at other enemies of the IRA as well. They have referred to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who passed away 12 years ago, with the obscenity “c***”, even leading their audience in a chant of “Maggie’s in a box” to the tune of KC and the Sunshine Band’s “Baby Give it Up.” They have declared that the only good supporter of the British Conservative Party is a dead one, urging the killing of Conservative members of parliament. They have taken to the stage bellowing “Up Hamas, Up Hezbollah” because in the dunderheaded imaginations of Ireland’s ultranationalists, it’s all one struggle from the Irish Sea to the Mediterranean coast.
Those antics are now biting them in the rear, if not the knees. British police have now opened an investigation into Kneecap’s statements, which violate anti-terror laws, with copious video evidence available to make their case. At least two venues in the United Kingdom, where they continue to play, despite rejoicing in the murder of British citizens, have canceled forthcoming performances by the group.
You have to wonder whether all this is worth it for the group themselves. They may think that their rhetoric is defiant, and they may genuinely believe that the balaclava decked in the colors of the Irish flag worn by band member DJ Provai makes him look edgy (and not like a rapist). But to anyone with some historical perspective, it’s clear that Kneecap are a band living in the past, still fighting a war that ended with the IRA’s disarmament a quarter of a century ago. A bit like Debbie, the frustrated middle-aged woman who is the subject of the song “1985,” Kneecap are buried in references and imagery far older than the band are. When they are not attacking Israel, they attack ghosts. It’s all rather sad.
And yet, this is the game Kneecap decided to play. If they didn’t know that spectacle can be your undoing, as well as your ticket to a golden future, they do now.
Since the birth of popular music in the last century, artists have understood that breaking America is a necessary condition of success. After the disgraceful scenes at Coachella, we should all be echoing music impresario Sharon Osbourne’s call for Kneecap’s US visas to be revoked; otherwise, we risk further glorification of the rapists and murderers of Hamas on our stages and screens.
As of now, Kneecap have two shows scheduled: one for Oct. 1 and the other for Oct. 10 at New York City’s Pier 17. Assuming that their visas are not canceled first, the managers of that venue need to be made aware of the group’s history, along with the fact that U.K. theaters are increasingly reluctant to host them. If an appeal to reason fails, then there is every reason to stage demonstrations outside that are more angry and more raucous than anything Kneecap can exhibit.
Doubtless, they will offer up the same disingenuous, craven apologies as they have done over the past week on the other side of the Atlantic, clearly terrified that no stage will be available to them anymore. We should turn a deaf ear to those. Just as Kneecap’s songs belong in the past, so do they.
The post Kneecap Get Kneecapped first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syrian Leader al-Sharaa Holds Talks With Erdogan on Surprise Istanbul Visit
Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria’s interim president, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s president, met during al-Sharaa’s first diplomatic trip since the fall of the al-Assad regime. Photo: Screenshot
i24 News – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was holding talks with Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa in Istanbul on Saturday, local media reported. No further details were available.
This comes one day after the US administration of President Donald Trump issued orders that it said would effectively lift sanctions on Syria in order to help the country rebuild after a devastating civil war.
The Treasury Department issued a general license that authorizes transactions involving the interim Syrian government led by Al-Sharaa, as well as the central bank and state-owned enterprises.
The general license, known as GL25, “authorizes transactions prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations, effectively lifting sanctions on Syria,” the Treasury said in a statement.
Syria welcomed the sanctions waiver early on Saturday, which the Foreign Ministry called a “positive step in the right direction to alleviate the country’s humanitarian and economic suffering.”
Syria is keen on cooperating with other countries “on the basis of mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs. It believes that dialogue and diplomacy are the best path to building balanced relations,” the ministry said in a statement.
The post Syrian Leader al-Sharaa Holds Talks With Erdogan on Surprise Istanbul Visit first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘It Was Just An Accident’ by Iran’s Jafar Panahi Wins Cannes’ Top Prize
Director Jafar Panahi, Palme d’Or award winner for the film “Un simple accident” (It Was Just an Accident), reacts, during the closing ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 24, 2025. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Revenge thriller “It Was Just An Accident” by Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who was last at the Cannes Film Festival in person more than 20 years ago, won the Palme d’Or top prize on Saturday.
Panahi, who has been arrested several times for his filmmaking and was under a travel ban until recently, last attended the festival in person in 2003, when “Crimson Gold” was screened in the Un Certain Regard category.
“Art mobilizes the creative energy of the most precious, most alive part of us. A force that transforms darkness into forgiveness, hope and new life,” said jury president Juliette Binoche when announcing the award.
“It Was Just An Accident” follows Vahid, played by Vahid Mobasseri, who kidnaps a man with a false leg who looks just like the one who tortured him in prison and ruined his life.
Vahid sets out to verify with other prison survivors that it is indeed their torturer – and then decide what to do with him.
An emotional Panahi, wearing sunglasses on stage, thanked his cast and film crew during his acceptance speech.
The Grand Prix, the second-highest prize after the Palme d’Or, was awarded to “Sentimental Value” from acclaimed director Joachim Trier.
The jury prize was split between the intergenerational family drama “Sound of Falling” from German director Mascha Schilinski and “Sirat,” about a father and son who head into the Moroccan desert, by French-Spanish director Oliver Laxe.
Brazil’s “The Secret Agent” won two awards, one for best actor for Wagner Moura, as well as best director for Kleber Mendonca Filho.
“I was having Champagne,” said Mendonca Filho after he ran up to the stage to collect his award after celebrating Moura, who previously made a name for himself in hit TV series “Narcos.”
Newcomer Nadia Melliti took home best actress for “The Little Sister,” a queer coming-of-age story centered around the daughter of Algerian immigrants in Paris.
Belgium’s Dardenne brothers, who have the rare honor of already having won two Palme d’Or prizes, took home the award for best screenplay for their film “Young Mothers.”
Twenty-two films in total were competing for the prize at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, with entries from well-known directors Richard Linklater, Wes Anderson and Ari Aster.
Saturday’s closing ceremony officially ends the glamour-filled festival that began on May 13.
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Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Admin From Revoking Harvard Enrollment of Foreign Students
US President Trump speaks to the media at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, Washington, DC, April 21, 2025. Photo: Andrew Leyden/ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect
A US judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign students, a policy the Ivy League school called part of President Donald Trump’s broader effort to retaliate against it for refusing to “surrender its academic independence.”
The order provides temporary relief to thousands of international students who were faced with being forced to transfer under a policy that the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university called a “blatant violation” of the US Constitution and other federal laws, and said would have an “immediate and devastating effect” on the university and more than 7,000 visa holders.
“Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,” the 389-year-old school said in its lawsuit filed earlier on Friday in Boston federal court. Harvard enrolled nearly 6,800 international students in its current school year, equal to 27% of total enrollment.
The move was the latest escalation in a broader battle between Harvard and the White House, as Trump seeks to compel universities, law firms, news media, courts and other institutions that value independence from partisan politics to align with his agenda. Trump and fellow Republicans have long accused elite universities of left-wing bias.
Harvard has pushed back hard against Trump, having previously sued to restore nearly $3 billion in federal grants that had been frozen or canceled. In recent weeks, the administration has proposed ending Harvard’s tax-exempt status and hiking taxes on its endowment, and opened an investigation into whether it violated civil rights laws.
Leo Gerden, a Swedish student set to graduate Harvard with an undergraduate degree in economics and government this month, called the judge’s ruling a “great first step” but said international students were bracing for a long legal fight that would keep them in limbo.
“There is no single decision by Trump or by Harvard or by a judge that is going to put an end to this tyranny of what Trump is doing,” Gerden said.
In its complaint, Harvard said the revocation would force it to retract admissions for thousands of people, and has thrown “countless” academic programs, clinics, courses and research laboratories into disarray, just a few days before graduation. It said the revocation was a punishment for Harvard’s “perceived viewpoint,” which it called a violation of the right to free speech as guaranteed by the US Constitution’s First Amendment.
The Trump administration may appeal US District Judge Allison Burroughs’ ruling. In a statement, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said, “unelected judges have no right to stop the Trump Administration from exercising their rightful control over immigration policy and national security policy.”
Since Trump’s inauguration on January 20, his administration has accused several universities of indifference toward the welfare of Jewish students during widespread campus protests against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Harvard’s court challenges over the administration’s policies stand in contrast to its New York-based peer Columbia University’s concessions to similar pressure. Columbia agreed to reform disciplinary processes and review curricula for courses on the Middle East, after Trump pulled $400 million in funding over allegations the Ivy League school had not done enough to combat antisemitism.
In announcing on Thursday the termination of Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, effective starting in the 2025-2026 academic year, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, without providing evidence, accused the university of “fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.”
Harvard says a fifth of its foreign students in 2024 were from China. US lawmakers from both parties have expressed concerns about the influence of the Chinese government on US college campuses, including efforts by Beijing-directed Chinese student associations to monitor political activities and stifle academic speech.
The university says it is committed to combating antisemitism and investigating credible allegations of civil rights violations.
HARVARD DEFENDS ‘REFUSAL TO SURRENDER’
In her brief order blocking the policy for two weeks, Burroughs said Harvard had shown it could be harmed before there was an opportunity to hear the case in full. The judge, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, scheduled hearings for May 27 and May 29 to consider next steps in the case. Burroughs is also overseeing Harvard’s lawsuit over the grant funds.
Harvard University President Alan Garber said the administration was illegally seeking to assert control over the private university’s curriculum, faculty and student body.
“The revocation continues a series of government actions to retaliate against Harvard for our refusal to surrender our academic independence,” Garber wrote in a letter on Friday to the Harvard community.
The revocation could also weigh on Harvard’s finances. At many US universities, international students are more likely to pay full tuition, essentially subsidizing aid for other students.
“It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Harvard’s bonds, part of its $8.2 billion debt pile, have been falling since Trump first warned US universities in March of cuts to federal funding.
International students enrolled at Harvard include Cleo Carney, daughter of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and Princess Elisabeth, first in line to the Belgian throne.
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