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Lawyers say police never responded to evidence of ‘actual perpetrators of genocide’ the way they did to Kneecap

Gearóid Ó Cuinn is the founding director of the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), which brings lawyers and investigators together to challenge power actors behind death, destruction, and other abuses. And he says British counter-terror police never responded to evidence GLAN sent them regarding “actual perpetrators & enablers of genocide, famine & war crimes” in the same way they have gone after hip-hop group Kneecap.

Kneecap: “something is wrong”

Kneecap has attracted the attention of genocide apologists by openly calling out Israel’s war crimes in occupied Gaza since October 2023. As a result, these pro-Israel agitators have pressured counter-terror police to investigate provocative but out-of-context comments from Kneecap members.

The group itself has slammed the “transparent effort to derail the real conversation”, insisting that “they want you to believe words are more harmful than genocide”. And that seems to be the view of counter-terror police, considering Ó Cuinn’s assertion that GLAN “NEVER got a speedy & proactive response” like the one Kneecap has faced.

Ó Cuinn gave the recent example of Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar’s visit to Britain. Sa’ar “oversees the starvation & destruction of Gaza”, and GLAN “submitted evidence”. But there was “no action taken during his extended visit”. And Ó Cuinn didn’t let the media off the hook either. As he said:

the BBC made sure not to report on our attempt to have Gideon Sa’ar, a suspected war criminal, arrested but no such issue with keeping us up to date on @KNEECAPCEOL

He’d previously stressed that Sa’ar’s visit “revealed not only shielding by UK officials but the silence of UK mainstream media”. And that’s even more problematic when we consider the speed and passion of the official and media response to Kneecap’s outspoken criticism of injustice.

Yes, words matter. But so does actual fucking genocide.

In light of the investigation into an apparent comment from a Kneecap member saying “the only good Tory is a dead Tory”, the band has rejected suggestions that it seeks to “incite violence against any MP or individual”. It has criticised the way the words were “deliberately taken out of all context”, while apologising for causing any hurt. And it has stressed its message is “one of love, inclusion, and hope”, adding:

the powerful in Britain have abetted slaughter and famine. This is where real anger and outrage should be directed towards.

They’re right, of course. But even if we consider people’s words to be problematic, let’s be honest. Political and economic elites – and their enforcers – have no moral high ground. Because we have seen time and again that they don’t treat everyone’s words in the same way.

Where, for example, was the counter-terror investigation into the soldiers shooting at a photo of MP and leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn back in 2019? Where was the investigation in 2016 into right-wing media hack Dan Hodges and the Daily Mail for calling on people to “kill vampire Jezza” (before then quietly changing ‘kill’ to ‘dump’ online)? Or what about the millionaire Tory donor who said Diane Abbott “should be shot“?

In short, as Massive Attack said this week in solidarity with Kneecap:

Kneecap are not the story. Gaza is the story. Genocide is the story… And the silence, acquiescence and support of those crimes against humanity by the elected British Government is the real story.

Featured image via the Canary

By Ed Sykes

This post was originally published on Canary.