June 9, 2024: Móglaí Bap, Dj Provaí, and Mo Chara of Kneecap attend the "Kneecap" Premiere during the 2024 Tribeca Festival at Village East Cinema in New York City.Getty Images

Kneecap, the staunchly pro-Palestine Irish language hip hop trio from Belfast, issued a statement on Friday, April 25, following days of heated discussion and even threats after their set at the Coachella music festival in the US on Friday, April 17.

At the close of their set - the group's second at Coachella, having also performed a week earlier - they projected a message on the stage that said: "Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.

"It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes.

"F--k Israel. Free Palestine."

Also during the set, band member Mo Chara told the huge crowd: "The Irish not so long ago were persecuted at the hands of the Brits, but we were never bombed from the f--king skies with nowhere to go.

"The Palestinians have nowhere to go. It's their f--king home and they're bombing them from the skies.

"If you're not calling it a genocide, what the f--k are you calling it?"

Amidst cheers from the crowd, Mo Chara then led the audience in chants of "Free, free Palestine."

Threats

Kneecap's pro-Palestinian messaging gave way to what they called "hundreds of violent Zionist threats." Their manager Daniel Lambert told RTE News that most of the threats were "too severe" to repeat on air, but that they did include death threats.

Indeed, Kneecap shared screenshots of some of what they described as "fan mail" after their Coachella gig.

One read: "I'd love nothing more for you all to die in a house fire."

An April 20 post from @KNEECAPCEOL.

Elsewhere, Sharon Osbourne, wife of British rocker Ozzy Osbourne, called for their visas to be revoked - her statement made seemingly countless headlines during the week.

Mo Chara said in response, "She should listen to ‘War Pigs’ that was written by Black Sabbath," of which Ozzy was a member.

Meanwhile, Kneecap's messaging at Coachella was slated as "unreal" and "staggering" on the Fox News program "Outnumbered."

On Thursday, The Hollywood Reporter said that Kneecap parted ways with their booking agency Independent Artist Group between the first and second weekends of Coachella, though it is "unclear" why.

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"Coordinated smear campaign"

On Friday, the group issued a statement via social media: "Since our statements at Coachella — exposing the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people — we have faced a coordinated smear campaign.

"For over a year, we have used our shows to call out the British and Irish governments' complicity in war crimes.

"The recent attacks against us, largely emanating from the US, are based on deliberate distortions and falsehoods.

"We are taking action against several of these malicious efforts.

"Let us be absolutely clear. The reason Kneecap is being targeted is simple — we are telling the truth, and our audience is growing.

"Those attacking us want to silence criticism of a mass slaughter. They weaponize false accusations of antisemitism to distract, confuse, and provide cover for genocide.

"We do not give a f*ck what religion anyone practices. We know there are massive numbers of Jewish people outraged by this genocide just as we are.

"What we care about is that governments of the countries we perform in are enabling some of the most horrific crimes of our lifetimes — and we will not stay silent. No media spin will change this.

"Our only concern is the Palestinian people - the 20,000 murdered children and counting.

"The young people at our gigs see through the lies. They stand on the side of humanity and justice. And that gives us great hope."

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Kneecap issued their statement a few hours after they announced that they sold out their gig with fellow Irish band Fontaines D.C. at the Boucher Playing Fields in Belfast.

Their announcement also comes the day after they said they sold out two dates in Amsterdam.

It also comes two days after they said they sold out their 19-date tour of the US and Canada scheduled for this October.