Kneecap have responded to Mo Chara’s terror offence charge, calling it a “carnival of distraction”.
Yesterday, the Belfast rapper was charged over an alleged incident where O’Hanna reportedly displayed a Hezbollah flag during a Kneecap show last November. Hezbollah is listed as a proscribed terrorist organisation by the UK Government.
Now, the rap trio have responded to O’Hanna’s charge on Instagram, saying that they “deny” the offence and will “vehemently defend ourselves”. “This is political policing,” they wrote. “This is a carnival of distraction. We are not the story. Genocide is.”
Pointing out that Gaza currently has 14,000 babies soon to die of starvation, yet the “British establishment is focused on us”, Kneecap added: “They profit from genocide, they use an ‘anti-terror law’ against us for displaying a flag thrown on stage. A charge not serious enough to even warrant their ‘crown court’, instead a court that doesn’t have a jury.”
“What’s the objective?”, the group continued. “To restrict our ability to travel. To prevent us speaking to young people across the world. To silence voices of compassion. To prosecute artists who dare speak out. Instead of defending innocent people, or the principles of international law they claim to uphold, the powerful in Britain have abetted slaughter and famine in Gaza, just as they did in Ireland for centuries. Then, like now, they claim justification.”
The trio went on to say that “the IDF units they arm and fly spy plane missions for are the real terrorists, the whole world can see it”, and concluded: “We stand proudly with the people. You stand complicit with the war criminals. We are on the right side of history. You are not. We will fight you in your court. We will win. Free Palestine.”
The charge is part of a wider debacle Kneecap have been embroiled in this year, following their overtly political statements in support of Palestine at Coachella.
The move supposedly “blindsided” festival organisers, and last April, counter-terror police began to assess footage from their November O2 Forum Kentish Town show in London. The footage appears to show a member shouting “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah,” along with O’Hannah reportedly flying a Hezbollah flag as well. In the UK, it is a crime to show support for either of these organisations.
Kneecap responded to the news of their show footage being assessed by posting a graphic, reading: “18 Months Of Genocide Footage Not Under Investigation By UK Counter-Terror Police”. The graphic was then captioned with the words: “Some facts.”
They have also since denied supporting either Hamas or Hezbollah, stating they would not incite violence against any individuals. Kneecap have also claimed that the video footage was taken out of context.
O’Hanna is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, June 18.
Since the investigation began, Kneecap have had several festival appearances cancelled, including scheduled German appearances at both Hurricane Festival and Southside Festival. They were also dropped from the Eden Project line-up in Cornwall and announced a replacement show in Plymouth which was subsequently cancelled as well.
MPs also called to have them removed from the line-ups of TRNSMT, Glastonbury and more.
However, many musicians have shared their support for Kneecap and the “freedom of expression”. Tom Morello, Brian Eno, Pulp, Fontaines D.C. and more signed an open letter to protect freedom of expression. Massive Attack, who themselves have boycotted performing in Israel since 1999, also supported the band by saying: “Kneecap are not the story. Gaza is the story. Genocide is the story”.
In other news, Kneecap have teased an incoming new single called ‘The Recap’.
