Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap have had several Several upcoming concerts in Germany canceled after the band’s controversial “fuck Israel” message displayed on the screen during their Coachella set, along with resurfaced videos from a Kneecap concert where the band called to kill members of parliament.
Last week, the German music festivals Hurricane and Southside, organized by FKP Scorpio, appeared to remove Kneecap from the festival lineups without explanation. The band confirmed in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the group “will not be performing at Hurricane or Southside Festival this year,” instead pointing fans to three headline concerts in Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg slated for early September. But as of Wednesday, the ticket pages for the concerts state those shows have been nixed as well.
Some of Kneecap’s Israel-Palestine statements could be considered hate speech under some interpretations of German law. For example, in some German states including Berlin, the expression “From the River to the Sea” is considered prosecutable hate speech.
The German show cancellations are just the latest fallout for Kneecap after they made headlines for pro-Palestine, anti-Israel pronouncements during the second weekend of Coachella this month. Jewish groups in the music industry such as the Creative Community for Peace, and individuals like Sharon Osbourne, had called for the band’s visas to be revoked. Between Coachella’s weekends one and two, the group parted ways with their booking agency IAG though the cause of the split is unclear. The separation with the agency could put the group’s visas into question as IAG was the band’s visa sponsor.
Since then, UK counter-terrorism authorities began investigating historical Kneecap concert footage where the band appeared to offer words of support to Hamas and Hezbollah — both of which the U.K. lists as terrorist organizations — as well as other videos where the band calls for the death of Conservative MPs in Britain.
Kneecap were formed in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 2017, and have long been a controversial and vocally political group. The group consists of Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and the DJ Próvaí. They are strongly associated with Irish Republicanism, the movement calling for the reunification of Ireland away from British rule. Kneecap broke through in 2018 with their debut single “C.E.A.R.T.A.,” which is Irish for “rights.” They released their debut studio album 3CAG that year, and their second album Fine Art through Heavenly Recordings in 2024.
Kneecap has repeatedly rebuked allegations of antisemitism since the latest controversy, saying that their statements are aimed at the Israeli government and stating the backlash they’ve faced is part of a smear campaign. The band took to Instagram on Tuesday and said that they “do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah.”
“We also reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual. Ever,” the band said. The Kneecap band said past concert footage had been “taken out of all context” and is now being “weaponized.”
“Suddenly, days after calling out the U.S. administration at Coachella to applause and solidarity, there is an avalanche of outrage and condemnation by the political classes of Britain,” Kneecap wrote. “The real crimes are not in our performances; the real crimes are the silence and complicity of those in power.
