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20-07-2025
LONDON: Police in the United Kingdom have decided not to take any further action against Kneecap in a case related to the Irish hip-hop trio’s opposition to Israel.
Avon and Somerset police said in a statement on Friday that they carried out an investigation over the music group’s performance at Glastonbury Festival on June 28 and sought advice from the Crown Prosecution Service.
“We have made the decision to take no further action on the grounds there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence,” it said, adding that it has informed the band about the decision.
Kneecap, which has repeatedly taken a pro-Palestine stance during their shows and online, confirmed they were informed about the decision via a representative.
“Every single person who saw our set knew no law was broken, not even close,” they said in a post online, saying the investigation amounted to “state intimidation”.
A member of the band had been charged with a “terrorism” offence for waving a flag of the Lebanese group Hezbollah at a concert in London in November 2024.
The Belfast-based trio had also been linking the struggles of the Irish under British colonial rule to those of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation and siege for decades, and has been known for its political and satirical lyrics.
Avon and Somerset police said in their statement that an investigation is ongoing in relation to separate comments made on stage by rap-punk duo Bob Vylan.
Bob Vylan has also been supporting Palestinians and used the UK’s largest summer music festival in late June to lead the crowds in chanting against the Israeli military.
The duo chanted “death” to the Israeli army and “free Palestine”, leading to a criminal investigation by British police.
After the performance, which pro-Israel voices branded as “anti-Semitic”, UK media said it would no longer live-broadcast musical performances deemed “high risk”.
The British government, a staunch supporter of Israel and a major arms provider to its Israeli military, also called the chants “appalling hate speech”.
Authorities in the United States revoked the visas of the musicians, who rejected being against any religious groups and said they are in favour of “dismantling a violent military machine” that has destroyed much of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military has killed at least 58,667 Palestinians in the besieged enclave since October 2023, and wounded nearly 140,000 others, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. About 20,000 children are among those killed.
Meanwhile, a new report has found that United Kingdom firms have continued to export military items to Israel despite a government suspension in September last year, amid allegations that the British parliament has been deliberately “misled”.
A report by the Palestinian Youth Movement, Progressive International and Workers for a Free Palestine revealed on Wednesday that the UK sent “8,630 separate munitions since the suspensions took effect, all in the category ‘Bombs, Grenades, Torpedoes, Mines, Missiles And Similar Munitions Of War And Parts Thereof-Other’.
“Despite [Foreign Minister] David Lammy, Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds MP and other Ministers repeatedly reiterating in the House of Commons that the Government has ended this direct supply of F-35 (fighter jets) parts, the evidence indicates that they have continued to send direct shipments of components for lethal F-35 jets to Israel after September 2024 – and that these shipments are ongoing,” it added. In September, Lammy announced the suspension of 29 arms export licences, out of 350, that were used during Israel’s war on Gaza.
Lammy said the government had found there had been a “clear risk” that the licences “might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law”. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
