A TERRORISM charge against a member of Kneecap is an attempt to silence the band and restrict their ability to travel, the Belfast rappers have claimed.
Last night the band's Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence after allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a London gig last year. The Lebanese political party and paramilitary group is banned in the UK.
In a statement issued this morning, Kneecap said that Gaza is the real story and denied the 'offence', branding the court case a "carnival of distraction". Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh is due to appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, 18 June.
The Kneecap statement reads: "14,000 babies are about to die of starvation in Gaza, with food sent by the world sitting on the other side of a wall, and once again the British establishment is focused on us. We deny this ‘offence’ and will vehemently defend ourselves. This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction. We are not the story. Genocide is.
"As they profit from genocide, they use an ‘anti-terror law’ against us for displaying a flag thrown on stage. A charge not serious enough to even warrant their ‘crown court’, instead a court that doesn’t have a jury.
"What’s the objective? To restrict our ability to travel. To prevent us speaking to young people across the world. To silence voices of compassion. To prosecute artists who dare to speak out.
"Instead of defending innocent people, or the principles of international law they claim to uphold, the powerful in Britain have abetted slaughter and famine in Gaza, just as they did in Ireland for centuries. Then, like now, they claim justification. The IDF units they arm and fly spy plane mission for are the real terrorists, the whole world can see it.
"We stand proudly with the people. You stand complicity with the war criminals. We are on the right side of history. You are not. We will fight you in your court. We will win. Free Palestine."
