Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap lead anti-Keir Starmer chant at Glastonbury

(Please note language in paragraph 1 that readers may find offensive.)

By Paul Sandle and Kristian Brunse

GLASTONBURY, England (Reuters) - Irish hip-hop group Kneecap led chants of "Fuck Keir Starmer" and condemned Israel in front of a huge crowd at Glastonbury Festival on Saturday, after the British prime minister had said their appearance was "not appropriate".

Politicians and music industry bosses had called on organisers to pull the group after member Liam O'Hanna, whose stage name is Mo Chara, was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert. He denied the charge.

"The Prime Minister of your country, not mine, said he didn't want us to play, so fuck Keir Starmer," said O'Hanna, wearing the keffiyeh scarf associated with Palestinians.

At least 30,000 people, hundreds of them with Palestinian flags, crammed into the West Holts stage in blazing sunshine to watch the trio, causing organisers to close the area.

After opening their set with "Better Way to Live", which mixes rapping in English and Irish, another of the group's members - Móglaí Bap, otherwise known as Naoise Ó Cairealláin - said Mo Chara would be back in court for a "trumped up terrorism charge".

He told the crowd the situation over the lawsuit was stressful, but it was minimal compared to what the Palestinians were going through every day.

Later in the high-energy set, he said "There's no fucking hiding it, Israel are war criminals."

The Israeli embassy in Britain earlier said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".

It did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Kneecap's statements.

Starmer told the Sun newspaper this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap, who rap in Irish and English, to appear at the famed music festival in the southwest of England.

Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch had said the BBC, which broadcasts the festival, should not show Kneecap, and 30 music industry bosses asked organisers to pull the band from the line-up, according to a letter leaked by DJ Toddla T, cited by the Guardian newspaper.

In response, more than 100 musicians have signed a public letter in support of the group.

Kneecap's manager, Dan Lambert, told Reuters the group had expected calls for the performance to be cancelled.

During the hour-long set, Kneecap thanked organisers Michael and Emily Eavis for not bowing to the pressure.

Kneecap, whose third member has the stage name DJ Próvaí, have said they do not support Hamas or Hezbollah.

O'Hanna said on Friday the group were "playing characters" on stage, and it was up to the audience to interpret their messages.

Israel has repeatedly denied committing abuses in its war in Gaza which began when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage into Gaza.

Israel launched a military campaign that has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to local health authorities in Gaza.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle, Kristian Brunse and Sophie Royle, additional reporting by Sarah Young, Editing by Jane Merriman, Timothy Heritage and Andrew Heavens)