Irish rap group Kneecap has denied any support for Hezbollah, after its member Liam O’Hanna was charged with a terror offence by London police for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag at a concert in England’s capital.
O’Hanna, 27, known by his stage name Mo Chara, is accused of showing support for the Lebanese militant group, who are proscribed by British authorities, during a performance on November 21.
London’s Metropolitan Police said officers from its Counter Terrorism Command launched an investigation after a video of the event surfaced online in April.
O’Hanna is accused of displaying a flag “in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter of a proscribed organisation” in contravention of the 2000 Terrorism Act.
The rapper, from Belfast, is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 18, police said.
The group had been scheduled to perform at a festival in London on Friday.
The charge follows growing scrutiny of Kneecap’s performances after footage circulated online showing provocative political statements made by the band on stage.
One video appeared to show a band member shouting: “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah.”
Those groups, in Gaza and in Lebanon, are banned as terror organisations in the UK and it is a crime to express support for them.
Kneecap denies offence
In a statement posted to their social media, Kneecap said, “We deny this ‘offence’ and will vehemently defend ourselves. This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction. We are not the story. Genocide is.”
The group highlighted that 14,000 babies were about to die of starvation in Gaza, quoting a statistic given by UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher, and maintained that the British establishment was focused on the rap trio instead.
“As 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? 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.”
They continued that instead of defending the innocent or upholding international law, the powerful in Britain “have abetted slaughter and famine in Gaza, just as they did in Ireland for centuries.”
Kneecap said that the Israeli forces that the UK armed were “the real terrorists” and “the whole world can see it.”
“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,” they stated.
Censorship debate
The band, known for its confrontational style and Irish nationalist messaging, has denied supporting violence or banned groups.
It said video footage had been “deliberately taken out of context”.
The backlash led to the cancellation of several of the group’s shows, including in southwest England and Germany.
The group’s songs include Get Your Brits Out and Better Way To Live.
The controversy has sparked a wider debate about artistic expression and political censorship.
The family of Conservative MP David Amess, who was fatally stabbed by an Islamic State group follower in 2021, called for an apology, while the party leader Kemi Badenoch called for the band to be banned.
In a statement in April, the band denied promoting extremist views and apologised to the families of Amess and Jo Cox, who was murdered in 2016 by a neo-Nazi sympathiser a week before the divisive Brexit referendum.
“We do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah,” the group said.
Nearly 40 musicians and groups, including Pulp, Paul Weller, Primal Scream and Massive Attack, have publicly backed Kneecap, accusing authorities of suppressing creative freedom.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin had urged the band to clarify whether they supported the groups or not.
An attack in Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023, resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s military response in Gaza has triggered a humanitarian crisis, with the territory’s health ministry on Tuesday putting the death toll at 53,655.
