The federal government claims the pro-Palestine Irish hip hop group Kneecap is a public safety threat

|September 22, 2025

Photo by Matthew Baker/Getty Images On Friday, Vince Gasparro, the Toronto MP and parliamentary secretary for combatting crime, announced that the Irish band Kneecap is banned from entering Canada. Gasparro accused the group, who were supposed to perform two shows in Toronto next month, of having “publicly displayed support for terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas” and “displaying hate symbols that directly target the Jewish community.” In response, Kneecap—who have denied that they support either organization—announced plans to sue Gasparro, calling his comments “wholly untrue and deeply malicious.”

So who is Kneecap? And who’s right?

The Irish hip hop trio began releasing music in 2017. Their work is inspired by Irish republicanism as well as typical youthful rebellion stuff like drugs and partying (last week, the Irish Times called them “Belfast’s Beastie Boys”). They have been vocally pro-Palestine, explaining that the British occupation of Northern Ireland has influenced their solidarity with the Palestinian people.

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Last spring, Kneecap played a controversial set at Coachella, where their solidarity took the form of a neon sign reading “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people” and also “F**k Israel, Free Palestine” (without the asterisks). This led to their US travel visas being revoked and the subsequent cancellation of several American shows. Also last spring, member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh—better known by his stage name Mo Chara—was charged with a terrorism offence in the United Kingdom for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag during a London performance in November of 2024. He has not been convicted and says that the flag was thrown on stage by someone in the crowd.

The Canadian government has denied Kneecap entry under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which gives federal ministers the power to refuse entry to individuals who are deemed a threat to national security or public safety. If Kneecap does initiate legal action, it will likely be on the grounds of defamation.

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Locally, some Jewish and Zionist groups have been pushing to keep Kneecap out of Canada since June, arguing that the band’s political activism serves to incite antisemitism. Notably, the federal government announced that it was refusing Kneecap entry the same week that Canada became the first G7 nation to recognize Palestine as a state.

Posting on their Instagram, Kneecap shared two messages. The first was for Gasparro, which read: “Whilst you outrageously try to claim we are antisemetic ‘the Times’ newspaper in England today wrote of our headline show in London last night as ‘emphatically anti-sectarian.’“ The second message was for their Canadian fans: “We’re sorry we can’t be with you next month but we will not be silenced and will always oppose genocide.”

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Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”