Kneecap gets the reprieve Bob Vylan is unlikely to receive

Just be consistent.
Kneecap
Kneecap | Aldara Zarraoa/GettyImages

The world is a different place since the most recent Gaza conflict happened. That is not only meant as the violence involved, but also how the world has reacted to it. While the United States has certainly taken an approach to back Israel and Israeli-Americans, it pales in comparison to the political and legal issues in the UK.

Flying a Hezbollah flag can get you a terrorism charge in the UK, and one could serve prison time. Kneecap's Mo Chara recently found that out as he had to answer in June for flying a flag in a concert in late 2024. Meanwhile, Disturbed's front man, David Draiman, can literally sign an Israeli bomb meant to drop on Gaza and nothing happens to him in the United States.

There might be something even more sinister afoot, however. Perhaps the issue isn't what people think they know, but what people can see live and what they can't. In other words, if the world isn't watching (or allowed to watch), everything is hunky dory.

Kneecap and Bob Vylan do the same things with different outcomes

At the 2025 Glastonbury festival, Kneecap's set was not broadcast by the BBC. We know from reports that the hip-hop trio said some pro-Palestine things at the fest, or at least anti-Israel things. But we didn't see them do it.

Meanwhile, rap-punk duo Bob Vylan was shown live, and chants of "Death to the IDF" (Israel Defense Forces) could be seen and heard. This might be why the Avon and Somerset Police force has decided not to pursue Kneecap with a terrorism charge, but is, at this time, moving forward with one against Bob Vylan.

Free speech can be a real thing, and the culture of music needs that to be the case, but the situations with Kneecap and Bob Vylan appear to imply that it's better to be heard rather than seen and heard when it comes to free speech. If we didn't see it happen, it can be passed off as not truly happening, right?

For everyone on Earth, hopefully, the Gaza situation gets resolved soon and for the better of all involved. Maybe the music part of people speaking their views could be left out altogether.

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