The Irish rap group has profiled itself as harsh critics of Israel's warfare in Gaza and the participation in the festival has been criticized – not least since one of the members has been prosecuted for terrorist offenses after having shown a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London last year.
The British public service company BBC chose for that reason not to broadcast the band's performance as part of their reporting from the festival.
Despite this, the channel managed not to avoid controversies in the live broadcasts. The band Bob Vylan, whose performance BBC broadcast live instead of Kneecaps, got an audience of several thousand to wave with Palestinian flags and shout along with slogans against the Israeli army.
During both Bob Vylan and Kneecaps' performances, BBC and Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer were also criticized – who has called Kneecaps' participation in the festival "inappropriate".
BBC has not yet commented on the performances – which have been both praised and criticized in social media.
