Irish rap group Kneecap repeated their criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza during a performance at the Rock en Seine festival outside Paris, despite objections from French Jewish groups and government officials.
The concert on August 24, which began shortly before 6.30pm local time in front of several thousand people in the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud, went ahead despite complaints from the Belfast trio’s critics, AFP reported.
“Free, free Palestine!” the group shouted at the start of their show, rallying an enthusiastic crowd where keffiyehs and Irish jerseys were visible.
The next day, the band announced they had been forced to cancel their scheduled US concerts, according to UK daily the Independent.
Ahead of the Rock en Seine show, France’s interior minister Bruno Retailleau said the authorities would be vigilant for “any comments of an anti-Semitic nature, apology for terrorism or incitement to hatred” at the event.
During their performance, the band displayed a backdrop in French that said: “The French Government is complicit,” accusing it of facilitating the sale of weapons to Israel. They posted a photo of the message on social media.
The show was briefly interrupted as several individuals whistled in protest, until security removed them from the crowd.
After organisers kept the politically outspoken band on the programme, local authorities withdrew their subsidies for the music festival where the gig took place – the annual Rock en Seine festival, according to AFP.
Saint-Cloud municipality for the first time withdrew its €40,000 subsidy for the festival.
The wider Ile-de-France region, which includes Paris, also cancelled its funding for the 2025 edition.
That did not jeopardise the viability of the four-day festival that ended on August 24, though, which had a budget of between €16 million and €17 million this year.
The group had already played twice in France this summer – at Les Eurockéennes festival in Belfort in July and earlier in August at the Cabaret Vert in Charleville-Mezieres – both times without incident.
Kneecap have made a habit of using their concerts to canvas for the Palestinian cause and criticise Israel.
Band member Liam O’Hanna, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was charged in England in June accused of displaying a flag of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah during a London concert in November 2024.
The band arrived at court on June 18 wearing “Free Mo Chara” T-shirts. Large green flags saying “Free Speech, Free Palestine” were also on display, according to the BBC.
A mixture of Palestinian and Kneecap flags were being held by some of the crowd and cheers were heard after a van drove past displaying the slogan “More Blacks, More Dogs, More Irish, Mo Chara”.
The slogan was a spin on the discriminatory message contained in a much-copied archive photograph.
Kneecap said it had “plastered” London with messages of support for its band member.
O’Hanna appeared again in court in the UK on August 20 on the same charges. He denied the alleged offence, with the band calling the accusations a “carnival of distraction” from the war in Gaza.
The case was adjourned until September 26 and O’Hannah was released on continuing unconditional bail.
Previously, the band played a closely scrutinised concert at the Glastonbury Festival in June, where Chara declared: “Israel are war criminals.”
The group later missed playing at the Sziget Festival in Budapest after being barred from entering by the Hungarian authorities, the country being a close ally of Israel.
Kneecap, who also support Irish Republicanism and criticise British Imperialism, have sparked widespread debate in the UK and Ireland, more than two-and-a-half decades after the peace agreement that aimed to end the conflict over the status of Northern Ireland.
The group takes its name from the deliberate shooting of the lower limbs, known as “kneecapping”, carried out by Irish Republicans as punishment attacks during the decades of unrest.
The August 24 concert came against a background of concerns about alleged high levels of anti-Semitism in France in the wake of Palestinian militant group Hamas attack on Israel October 7, 2023.
“They are desecrating the memory of the 50 French victims of Hamas on October 7, as well as all the French victims of Hezbollah,” said Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), who had called for the concert to be cancelled.
On the same day, Charles Kushner, the US ambassador to Paris, had sparked a diplomatic row after a letter he wrote to French President Emmanuel Macron criticised what he said was France’s insufficient action against anti-Semitism.
Following that, on August 25, the band announced they had been forced to cancel all 15 of their scheduled US shows, which were due to take place in October, the Independent reported.
The decision was reportedly taken due to the tour’s close proximity with the hip-hop trio’s next court hearing in London.
The group, who said they were the subjects of a “witch hunt” by the British Government, promised to embark on an even bigger tour “once we win our court case, which we will”.
Kneecap’s sold-out Canadian shows in Vancouver and Toronto will go ahead as planned.
In a statement, they added that they would be sharing something “very special” for their US fans in a few days.
“It’s top secret for now but all will be revealed next week – stay tuned,” the band said. “And remember … ‘The revolution will be no re-run, brothers. The revolution will be live.’”
On Instagram, fans encouraged Kneecap to “keep fighting the good fight”, with some adding that they would be donating their refunded ticket costs to humanitarian organisations in support of Palestine.
The band has said previously that its members did not support Hamas or Hezbollah and that it condemned “all attacks on civilians, always”.
