Kneecap rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh has said that labelling the group as antisemitic means people “water that term down”.
The group were interviewed by the Big Issue after it was ruled the rapper, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, will not face a terror trial after being accused of displaying a flag in support of proscribed terror organisation Hezbollah at a gig.
O hAnnaidh told the magazine: “When you start labelling bands and people who speak out against Israel as antisemitic, what you do is water that term down.
“We are not antisemitic.”
O hAnnaidh also said it was “impossible” to remember everything that happens during a performance.
“When you’re playing a gig it’s impossible to be perfectly conscious all the time. I don’t remember all – and that’s not just from drink, that’s pure adrenaline,” he told the Big Issue.
Band member Moglai Bap said the group is “from the north of Ireland”.
“We know about f****** religious conflicts, people using religion as a way to murder, maim and all this stuff,” he added.
“We are against any discrimination in any form.”
The alleged offence was said to have taken place at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, on November 21 2024.
But the case was thrown out in September last year, with chief magistrate Paul Goldspring ruling the proceedings were “instituted unlawfully”.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) appealed against the decision at the High Court at a hearing in January, with the rapper opposing the challenge.
In a judgment last week, two judges at the High Court upheld the decision and dismissed the CPS appeal.
The full interview can be read in Monday’s Big Issue, on sale from street vendors and online via bigissue.com.
Graffiti artist 10Foot has created new artwork, which will feature on the cover of the magazine.
He has also contributed an exclusive print, which will come free with each magazine sold.
