The Belfastrapparna in Kneecap have had a major breakthrough in the past year, initially thanks to the biographical film about their lives which was nominated as Ireland's Oscars bid.
But during the spring and summer, the headlines about the trio have been about something else. When Kneecap played at the American giant festival Coachella in April, the message "Fuck Israel, free Palestine" was projected during the concert, and the trio called Israel's actions a genocide.
This resulted in outraged reactions in conservative American media, the concert was condemned by the British government and Kneecap broke with their booking agency.
Charges for terrorist crimes
Since then, the debate about Kneecap has continued to be heated. In parallel, member Liam O'Hanna, with the artist name Mo Chara, has been charged with terrorist crimes in the UK after waving a Hezbollah flag during a concert in November last year. He denies the crime and has been released on bail pending a court hearing on August 20.
When Kneecap played at the British Glastonbury festival in June, the BBC refused to broadcast the concert live.
At the same time, Way Out West's booking of the group has remained. Earlier in July, the Jewish Central Council demanded that the Göteborg festival cancel Kneecap, as they believe they pose a threat to Jews and Israelis.
"In light of the increasing antisemitism in Sweden and internationally, a performance by Kneecap at Way Out West would send a serious signal that antisemitism is something one tolerates," the organization wrote in an open letter.
Unexpected support
Kneecap, however, receives support from an unexpected quarter: the network Jewish call welcomes the group to Sweden in a post on Instagram where they turn against "the use of accusations of antisemitism as a tool for censorship".
Way Out West organizer Luger has previously said in a written comment to TT that the festival "strives to be a platform where different opinions can be expressed in a non-polarizing way. Artistic freedom will always be extremely important to us. This is also the reason why we do not want to comment on the artistic expressions of our booked acts."
In a further comment, the organizer says that it is still intended that the concert will take place, and that they were not prepared for the fact that the booking would cause such a storm.
"When we announced the band in January, it was not one of our more noticed bookings," writes Filip Hiltmann at Luger.
Kneecap will play at Way Out West on August 7.
