The Kneecap counterattacks: “They want to make you believe that words do more damage than a genocide”

The Kneecap counterattacks. The Belfast Rap Trio is at the center of a very heated controversy both in the United Kingdom, we lived in the United States for the writings against Israel who appeared during their performance at the Coachella and for having praised Hamas and Hezbollah in the past during a concert, as well as having incited to kill British conservative politicians because “the only good Tory is a dead Tory”. These last two episodes, which took place in England, were reported to the police who submitted them to British anti -terrorism.

The band released a statement a few hours ago in which he condemns all violence against civilians and therefore, without mentioning them, also the attacks of Hamas on 7 October against Israel. It is a principle that they know well, the three write, coming from Northern Ireland, for decades divided by Troubles, the conflict between unionists and nationalists who caused the death of thousands of people.

“They want to make you believe that words do more damage than a genocide,” writes the group. «In an attempt to silence us, some figures of the Etablishment have passed hundreds of hours of videos and interviews to the sifteen, extrapolating a few sentences dating back to months or years ago in order to feed a wave of moral hysteria. Let's be clear: we never supported Hamas, nor Hezbollah. We condemn any attack on civilians, without exception. It is not a justifiable thing, never. We also know this principle well in the light of the history of our country. We also reject any insinuation according to which we would have incited violence against parliamentarians or other individuals. Never. Some video fragments, deliberately decontextualized, are now exploited and presented as if they were appeals to the action. It is an absurd distortion and a clear attempt to divert attention from the true debate ».

«Currently, two million Palestinians present in Gaza are reduced to hunger due to the Israeli siege. At least 20 thousand children were killed. The British government continues to provide weapons in Israel, although dozens of National Health Service dozens warned Keir Starmer, already in August, that children were systematically executed by snipers. Instead of defending civilians or principles of international law, those who have power in the United Kingdom have favored massacres and hunger. It is towards all this that indignation should be addressed ».

The Kneecap offer “our most sincere apologies” to Jo Cox's family, the parliamentarian of the Labor killed in June 2026, and David Amess, a conservative politician stabbed to death in 2021, whose daughter had condemned the “stupid and violent rhetoric” of the trio. “Ours” continues the group “has always been and remains a message of love, inclusion and hope. This is why our music has an impatient that goes beyond generations, countries, social classes and cultures, bringing hundreds of thousands of people to our concerts. No defamatory campaign can change all this ».

“Just in the days following our speech in Coachella, in which we criticized the US administration by receiving applause and solidarity, an avalanche of indignation from the British political class has been unleashed. But the real crimes you do not find them in our performances: they are in the silence and complicity of those who hold power. Shame”.