Shameless

Kneecap have apologised for having said “Kill your local MP’,  as being hurtful to the loved ones of two British MPs who were murdered. It was the decent thing to do but it wasn’t the logical thing to do – as they are aware themselves.

KNEECAP STATEMENT

 ‘They want you to believe words are more harmful than genocide. Establishment figures, desperate to silence us, have combed through hundreds of hours of footage and interviews, extracting a handful of words from months or years ago to manufacture moral hysteria. Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah. We condemn all attacks on civilians, always. It is never okay. We know this more than anyone, given our nation’s history. We also reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual. Ever. An extract of footage, deliberately taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponised, as if it were a call to action. This distortion is not only absurd – it is a transparent effort to derail the real conversation. All two million Palestinian people in Gaza are currently being starved to death by Israel. At least 20,000 children in Gaza have been killed. The British government continues to supply arms to Israel, even after scores of NHS doctors warned Keir Starmer in August that children were being systematically executed with sniper shots to the head. Instead of defending innocent people or the principles of international law, the powerful in Britain have abetted slaughter and famine. This is where real anger and outrage should be directed towards. To the Amess and Cox families, we send our heartfelt apologies, we never intended to cause you hurt. Kneecap’s message has always been — and remains — one of love, inclusion, and hope. This is why our music resonates across generations, countries, classes and cultures and has brought hundreds of thousands of people to our gigs. No smear campaign will change that. Suddenly, days after calling out the US administration at Coachella to applause and solidarity, there is an avalanche of outrage and condemnation by the political classes of Britain. The real crimes are not in our performances; the real crimes are the silence and complicity of those in power. Shame on them.’

That’s pretty much it – do everything to discredit this trio of unrepentant rebels and pull the public gaze away from what they’re talking about. They may not support Hamas or Hezbollah, but they’d be blind, deaf and dumb if they didn’t see what had created both groups. When a people are dispossessed and slaughtered, it’s inevitable that those being oppressed by their colonial masters will seek to strike back.

Those who side with and arm Israel are by any  definition supporters of war criminals. And politicians like Micheál Martin who can’t bring themselves to call an Israeli spade a fucking shovel should indeed feel shame. It’s not about Kneecap, it’s about speaking out on the genocide being pursued by Israel and funded by the US.