Irish hip-hop group Kneecap fights back against Canadian government ban

Kneecap performing in the UK, May 2025 -- Paul Hudson from United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Various Sources

Irish hip-hop group Kneecap has announced plans for legal action against the Canadian government and the Parliamentary Secretary for Combating Crime, Vince Gasparro after being banned from entering the country.

Kneecap, a Belfast-based trio, is known for their pro-Palestinian solidarity stances and messages and steadfast opposition to and criticism of the genocide in Gaza. They were scheduled to perform in Toronto and Vancouver this October. The Canadian government deemed them ineligible for entry, citing concerns over their alleged "open endorsement of terrorist organizations," like Hezbollah and Hamas in yet another outrageous western attack on free speech rights.

In reaction to the government ban, Kneecap publicly denied the allegations of supporting violence or terrorism, calling statements about them made by Gasparro "wholly untrue and deeply malicious." They criticized the government's decision as an attempt to silence their political campaign in solidarity with Palestinians, especially in light of the ongoing Israeli genocide. Kneecap has indicated they will initiate legal action against Gasparro.

“We have today instructed our lawyers to initiate legal action against you. We will be relentless in defending ourselves against baseless accusations to silence our opposition to a genocide being committed by Israel,” reads the letter.

“When we beat you in court, which we will, we will donate every cent to assist some of the thousands of child amputees in Gaza.”

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