Kneecap banned from Canada, MP claims
A Toronto MP has taken to social media to share that Kneecap have been banned from entering Canada ahead of their proposed tour in October.
Vince Gasparro, who serves as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretary of State for Combating Crime, shared the news on social media on September 19th.
In his statement, he reacted specifically to Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh’s ongoing terror charge in the UK, after he allegedly waved a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London last November. Ó Hannaidh has not been found guilty of any criminal offence.
“We have deemed the group Kneecap ineligible to enter our country. Our government will not tolerate the advocating of political violence, terrorism, or Anti-Semitism and hate more broadly,” the Toronto MP wrote on X. He deemed their views “contrary to Canadian violence.”
Gasparro addressed the Canadian public in an accompanying video. He began, “The group have amplified political violence and publicly displayed support for terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah and Hamas.”
Gasparro added that their alleged past actions “are not expressions of art of legitimate political critique, they are dangerous endorsements of violence and hate”. He went on to explicitly discuss the ongoing terror charge, insisting their alleged behaviour will “not be tolerated by our government”. The ban is effective immediately, the politician claimed.
This is not the first time Kneecap have been banned from entering a country. Hungary’s Secretary of State for International Communication, Zoltan Kovacs, announced in July that the Irish trio had been banned for three years from entering Hungary. This meant they could not perform at the Sziget festival.
At the time, Kneecap hit back from this ban, “The authoritarian government of Viktor Orban say we ‘pose a national security threat’.” They added that the comment was “fucking outrageous coming from a man who welcomed Netanyahu, a wanted war criminal, like a hero just a few weeks ago.”
In August, Kneecap announced that they were forced to cancel their upcoming US tour due to the court date for Ó Hannaidh’s terror charge, which they deemed a government “witch-hunt” against them.
However, the band specified that the cancelled dates would not affect their planned run of gigs in Canada, which they are still slated to perform later in the same month. Now, it appears, these will have to be cancelled too.
Kneecap were due to play Toronto on October 14th, 15th, and 23rd, as well as Vancouver on October 22nd.
Ó Hannaidh is due to appear in court again in London on September 26th after a judge adjourned making a ruling on the case at his last hearing in August.
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