Kneecap band: Festival organisers and not politicians are cancelling Kneecap gigs, says Irish speaker from Dublin, Rev Chris Hudson
A letter from 40 bands supporting Belfast band Kneecap fails to grasp that it is festival organisers - and not politicians - who are cancelling their concerts, it is claimed.
Irish speaker Rev Chris Hudson, from Dublin, was speaking after Kneecap's label published a letter signed by 40 musicians and artists, under the banner: “We stand for freedom of expression”.
It comes after one of the band's members appeared to call for Conservative MPs to be killed and one member appeared to shout ‘up Hamas, up Hezbollah’ in concert footage.
At least five gigs in Germany have since been cancelled, as their slot at the Eden Project in Cornwall.
Its planned performance in August on Belfast City Council property is also under scrutiny.
The group has now said they “reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual” and said they have “never supported” Hamas or Hezbollah.
However, the band has drawn criticism from Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Tory leader Kemi Badenoche banned, while others have called for them to be dropped from Glastonbury.
The band’s label Heavenly have now published a letter signed by 40 artists defending Kneecap, entitled: “We stand for freedom of expression”. It says: “In a democracy, no political figures or political parties should have the right to dictate who does and does not play at music festivals or gigs that will be enjoyed by thousands of people.”
It also noted that "chillingly... influential figures and personalities within the wider music industry" are also part of the campaign.
Signatories include Pulp, Fontaines DC, IDLES, Massive Attack, Paul Weller, Primal Scream, Enter Shikari, English Teacher, The Pogues, Lankum, Toddla T and Sleaford Mods.
But Rev Chris Hudson, a non-subscribing Presbyterian minister in East Belfast, believes that the letter is "a diversion" from the real issue.
"I see the Metropolitan Police are now investigating their comments. So why don't they just defend what they said? In my opinion they can't, because they are polemic comments [a strongly critical attack] - not art.
"They're now moving away from stating that this has got artistic merit, and trying to get other people to defend the polemic that they made instead.
"It is not the politicians who are cancelling their gigs - it is the people organizing the music festivals."
He suggests that it was Hamas that started the ongoing "asymmetric war" in Gaza with its attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
"We all want it to end, and the sooner the better. But there are also conflicts in Sudan, Yemen and the Uyghur people in China. And yet every day the media leads with the latest atrocity in Gaza - which is fair enough. So how is the debate on Gaza being stifled?"
The UK government under Keir Starmer has also criticised "the excesses that Israel has gone to" he notes.
After seeing their film, he rejects claims that Kneecap are satirical or ironic. "Their use of language like 'Brits out' is not satire or irony. Their music is a polemic about what they see as the armed struggle."
When invited to comment by the News Letter, the band’s manager, Dan Lambert, sends the same message each time.
“There’s journalism and then there’s the News Letter Belfast,” he says. “Nobody from Kneecap will be providing comment to your ‘paper’, ever. Free Palestine! Hasta la victoria siempre. Dan.”