Kneecap have been barred from entering Canada after its government accused them of “displaying hate symbols that directly target the Jewish community” and supporting “terrorist organisations such as Hizbullah and Hamas”.
The Derry-Belfast rap trio had been due to play two dates in Toronto and two dates in Vancouver in October.
Last month they were forced to cancel the first part of their sold-out North American tour, in the United States, because one of the group, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who performs as Mo Chara, is due in court in London on September 26th for allegedly displaying a Hizbullah flag at a gig they played in London in November 2024. Ó hAnnaidh denies the offence.
In a statement posted on X, the Canadian MP Vince Gasparro, who is his government’s parliamentary secretary for combating crime, claimed: “The group have amplified political violence and publicly displayed support for terrorist organisations such as Hizbullah and Hamas. These are not expressions of art or legitimate political critique. They are dangerous endorsements of violence and hate.”
RM Block
Referring to the charges against Ó hAnnaidh, he said: “Advocating for political violence, glorifying terrorist organisations and displaying hate symbols that directly target the Jewish community are not protected forms of expression and will not be tolerated by our government...
“Effective immediately, the members of Kneecap have been deemed ineligible to enter Canada. Canada stands firmly against hate speech, incitements to violence and the glorification of terrorism...
“Our government remains steadfast in protecting all Canadians, and in this instance Jewish Canadians, from anti-Semitism and hate more broadly ... We will not tolerate international conflicts being used as an excuse to intimidate and harass Canadians here at home.”
Kneecap posted a response on X in which they said they would take legal action and beat Gasparro in court.
“Your comments about us are wholly untrue and deeply malicious. We will not accept it. No member of Kneecap has been convicted of any crime in any country ever.
“Whilst you outrageously try to claim we are antisemitic ‘the Times’ newspaper in England today wrote of our headline show in London last night as ‘emphatically anti-sectarian’.
“We have today instructed our lawyers to initiate legal action against you. We will be relentless in defending ourselves against baseless accusations to silence our opposition to a genocide being committed by Israel.
“When we beat you in court, which we will, we will donate every cent to assist some of the thousands of child amputees in Gaza.”
They added, in a message to their fans: “We have played in Canada many times with zero issues and a message of solidarity and love. We are sorry we cannot be with you next month but we will not be silenced and will always oppose genocide. Use your voices in Canada – stand up and speak out.”
British police decided to take no further action after the group performed at Glastonbury Festival in June, when the trio led the crowd in chants of “f**k Keir Starmer”. The BBC, which broadcast 90 hours of Glastonbury coverage, had already decided not to stream the set live.
[ Kneecap review: Rap trio give a performance for the ages at Electric PicnicOpens in new window ]
Kneecap, who have also characterised the terrorism-related charge against Ó hAnnaidh as a political distraction from Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, performed to a huge crowd at Electric Picnic in August after being added to the line-up shortly before the festival began.
The event’s director, Melvin Benn, said that inviting them to take part “was a really important statement. Musically, fantastic, but in terms of what’s going on in the world it’s really important that they’re here, adding their voice.”
