TV star calls for band’s visas to be revoked after 'aggressive' political Coachella performance
TV personality Sharon Osborne is calling for a Northern Irish hip-hop band's U.S. work visas to be revoked after the band made "aggressive" anti-Israel messages a part of their Coachella performance.
On April 18, Belfast-based trio Kneecap projected three pro-Palestine phrases on a screen behind them at the end of their second set at the California music festival, the BBC reported .
The first message read "Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people," according to the BBC. It was followed by "It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes," and finally and most controversially, "F*** Israel. Free Palestine."
Kneecap "took their performance to a different level by incorporating aggressive political statements," Osborne wrote on Instagram Tuesday .
"This behavior raises concerns about the appropriateness of their participation in such a festival and further shows they are booked to play in the USA," she wrote.
In a response to Osborne's criticism shared with Rolling Stone magazine , Kneecap member Mo Chara said the band has been outspoken in its support of the Palestinian people since its inception in 2017.
"We believe we have an obligation to use our platform when we can to raise the issue of Palestine, and it was important for us to speak out at Coachella as the USA is the main funder and supplier of weapons to Israel as they commit genocide in Gaza," he told the magazine. "As I said from the stage, 'The U.S. government could stop the genocide tomorrow.' It's important that young Americans hear and know it."
The U.S. State Department generally doesn't comment on specific visa cases out of concern for privacy and visa confidentiality, it said in a statement to the BBC.
Notably though, the department also stated that, when considering revocations, it "looks at information that arises after the visa was issued that may indicate a potential visa ineligibility under US immigration laws, pose a threat to public safety, or other situations where revocation is warranted."
Osborne criticized Goldenvoice, Coachella's organizers, for allowing Kneecap to play a second set at the festival. If they weren't aware of the band's intent to display political messages prior to its first set, they should've been after it, she argued. The fact that Goldenvoice allowed Kneecap to perform "suggests support of their rhetoric and a lack of due diligence," Osborne wrote.
During Kneecap's first Coachella performance, the band had planned to include pro-Palestine messages, but their set was cut short, Chara told Rolling Stone.
"It's not surprising, large companies don't like to hear the truth unless it suits their narrative and pocket," he said.
Osborne is of both Irish Catholic and Ashkenazi Jewish heritage, so she "understands the complexities" involved in the issue of Israel-Palestine, she wrote in the Instagram post.
But during Kneecap's second Coachella set, Chara drew parallels between the history of the Irish people and that of the Palestinians, the BBC reported.
"The Irish not so long ago were persecuted at the hands of the Brits, but we were never bombed from the ... skies with nowhere to go. The Palestinians have nowhere to go," he said.
By the end of the set, the crowd could be heard chanting "Free Palestine," the BBC reported.
"The crowd chanting 'Free Palestine' at Coachella was a message of solidarity to the people of Gaza from regular Americans who want to see an end to the genocide, despite their government's arming and funding Israel," Chara told Rolling Stone.
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Read the original article on MassLive .
