OAN Staff Blake Wolf
11:30 AM – Monday, April 21, 2025
The Irish band “Kneecap,” a hip hop trio from West Belfast, Northern Ireland, stirred up controversy at Coachella on Saturday as the group projected a message that read “Free Palestine” above the stage — while simultaneously accusing Israel of genocide during their set.
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“Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” the message above the stage read. “It is being enabled by the U.S. who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes.”
“F*** Israel, Free Palestine,” it continued.
The Irish have been known to resonate with the Palestinian people and their voiced struggles as many Irish people compare their country being previously oppressed under British rule to Palestinians being oppressed by Israel. The Roman Catholic country has historically supported anti-apartheid movements, indigenous rights, and “anti-colonial” causes as well. In the EU, The Irish parliament was one of the first to consider Israeli settlement policies as “de facto annexation,” which refers to an entity that functions as a state, even if it’s not formally recognized or has no legal right to exist. Additionally, Irish media and public discourse in the country often give relatively more space to the Palestinian narrative than in other Western countries.
Meanwhile, during the group’s recent Coachella set, band member Mo Chara asserted that: “The Palestinians have nowhere to go.”
“It’s their fu**ing home. And they’re bombing them from the skies. If you’re not calling it a genocide what the f*** are you calling it?” he added.
Kneecap has long spoken on political matters, explaining in an interview last year that their Northern Ireland origins play a major role in their “activism.”
“Because of where we’re from, everything has to be about politics,” the group stated at the time. “We’re a band, for f***’s sake. We make music. Obviously, we do things that are political.”
“It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from. Just because we rap in Irish and might not align with your political views — we can be friends with people that we don’t align with politically,” the group added.
Additionally, on Sunday, the American rock band Green Day also criticized the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza during their set.
Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong changed the lyrics to the song “Jesus of Suburbia,” which originally were “Runnin’ away from pain when you’ve been victimized,” to “Runnin’ away from pain like the kids from Palestine.”
The anti-Israel sentiment stems from the IDF’s retaliatory response to Hamas’ brutal terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023, which led to the death of 1,200 Israelis, while around 250 more were taken hostage by the Islamist terrorists as well — marking the worst attack on Israel since its creation.
However, Israel’s retaliatory war efforts have also prompted international criticism of the Jewish State’s government.
Regarding Ireland, tensions have only been rising between Israel and “the Emerald Isle.” Israel closed its embassy in Ireland in December, citing the “extreme anti-Israel policy of the Irish government.”
Additionally, Dublin joined South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, to which Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar responded, stating “the antisemitic actions and rhetoric that Ireland is taking against Israel are based on delegitimization and demonization of the Jewish state and on double standards.”
Soon after, Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris responded to Sa’ar’s statement, adding: “I utterly reject the assertion that Ireland is ‘anti-Israel.’”
“Ireland is pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-international law,” he continued. “Ireland wants a two-state solution and for Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security. Ireland will always speak up for human rights and international law.”
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