Irish rap group Kneecap have been banned from entering Canada forward of their tour of the nation on the grounds of alleged “hate speech” and “glorification of terrorism.”
“Recently the rap group Kneecap has engaged in actions and made statements that are contrary to Canadian values and laws that have caused deep alarm to our government,” Parliamentary Secretary for Combatting Crime Vince Gasparro mentioned in a video saying the ban Friday morning.
“The group have amplified political violence and publicly displayed support for terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas,” Gasparro mentioned.
The lawmaker famous that one member of Kneecap is dealing with terrorism-related costs within the UK. He additionally claimed that the band displayed “hate symbols that directly target the Jewish community,” although he didn’t specify what these had been.
“That is why, as parliamentary secretary for combatting crime, I am announcing that effective immediately, the members of Kneecap have been deemed ineligible to enter Canada,” Gasparro mentioned.
They had been due to perform in Toronto and Vancouver beginning October 14.
Kneecap responded to Gasparro’s allegations in an announcement issued on X, calling the lawmaker’s claims “wholly untrue and deeply malicious” and saying that they intend to file “legal action” in opposition to Gasparro.
“When we beat you in court, which we will,” the Belfast-based group mentioned, “We will donate every cent to assist some of the thousands of child amputees in Gaza.”
The band additional claimed that “significant Zionist lobbying groups” had pressured the Canadian authorities, together with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and two others.
CIJA’s spokesperson Nicole Amiel advised NCS Friday that CIJA had been “very vocal about them not being allowed to come into Canada.” In a statement Friday, the group welcomed Gasparro’s announcement because the “right decision.”
NCS has additionally reached out to Kneecap’s administration and Gasparro for additional remark.
This is simply the newest controversy involving the outspoken Irish-speaking rap group, which was fashioned in Northern Ireland in 2017 and been praised for his or her efforts to revitalize the Irish language by means of hip hop.
The trio incessantly speaks out in opposition to Israel’s actions in Gaza, typically main crowds in chants of “Free Palestine” at their exhibits.
The British authorities has accused one member, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, of displaying a Hezbollah flag at a 2024 live performance in violation of UK terror legal guidelines, in a case that’s at the moment within the courts, with the following listening to on September 26.
Ó hAnnaidh has denied wrongdoing, and Kneecap famous of their Friday assertion that not one of the members have been convicted of against the law.
The rapper’s case interrupted Kneecap’s tour of the US, as effectively. The band said final month that on account of Ó hAnnaidh’s hearings, they needed to cancel all 15 US tour dates.
Meanwhile, in July, the group was banned from Hungary two weeks earlier than they had been on account of carry out at a pageant there. Hungarian authorities spokesperson Zoltán Kovács claimed the band “normalizes hate and terror” – an allegation they vociferously denied, saying “we stand against all hate crimes.”
In an e mail to NCS, the Canadian Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship mentioned that “entry to Canada may be refused for a number of reasons, including concerns related to security, human or international rights violations, or criminal activity,” however added that it couldn’t touch upon Kneecap’s case particularly out of privateness considerations.
Howard Sapers, government director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, advised NCS that he couldn’t recall a time when Canada had banned a musical group from entering the nation, including that he sees Kneecap’s dilemma as a “fundamental question of freedom of expression.”
“The way that this decision was made public seems overtly political,” Sapers mentioned. “And for me, it’s a real problem when a government is signaling that it’s either willing to politicize what’s really an administrative process or even worse, it’ll use an administrative process as a lever when pulling the legal lever is just too hard. In this case, there’s a much higher threshold to define hate speech than what the immigration officer needs to deny entry.”
Gasparro mentioned in his Friday video assertion that the federal government’s resolution was absolutely consistent with Canadian free speech legal guidelines.
“Political debate and free speech are vital to our democracy,” Gasparro mentioned. “But open endorsements of terrorist groups are not free speech.”