The biggest annual music festival in the US just wrapped up, and there’s one band that’s making a lot of noise online: Kneecap. But they’re making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
This cult Irish rap group is growing in notoriety after bringing their antisemitism and hateful messages to the Coachella stage.
They used their two performances to tell their audiences “F— Israel.” They accused Israel of genocide and the U.S. of funding war crimes. But if you look past the slogans, it’s not about helping Palestinians—at all.
It’s about glorifying terror and spreading violent anti-Israel messaging. They’ve praised Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terror group, leading audiences in chants of “Oo-aah Hezbollah.” They celebrated the October 7 massacre the day after it happened. Their rallying cries, like many so-called pro-Palestinian protests in the West, aren’t about calling for peace. They are taking their cues straight from the mouths of terrorist leaders to spread hatred against Israel.
And if it’s not clear enough already, they aren’t rallying against the Israeli government specifically. They’re hating against all Jews in general.
And here’s the part that should alarm everyone: Coachella organizers knew this could happen.
The livestream of their first weekend show was cut off, which led the band to complain of “censorship.” During the week that followed, the Creative Community for Peace, a nonprofit group of entertainment industry professionals, flagged the band’s history of promoting terror and celebrating mass murder. But instead of canceling them, Coachella decided not to livestream the second show at all—and handed them the mic to preach hate again.
This is how antisemitic messages get normalized.
While music festivals are supposed to be about coming together and enjoying art, there’s no doubt that Jewish attendees will not only feel unwelcome, but even unsafe, in the future.
And as for the war in Gaza, Kneecap’s efforts surely won’t bring us one step closer to peace.
