“These charges levelled at Liam Óg and Kneecap are an attempt by the London Met, backed by the British establishment, to try and put manners on the Palestine solidarity movement. Our message to them today is you will not win. You will not put manners on us. We will not be intimidated and we will not be silenced. I know Liam Óg, and I know that he won’t be silenced either.
“I sincerely hope that this ridiculous case is thrown out today. But if it’s not, our message is to the London Met, to the people inside; we’ll be back here and we’ll be back in bigger numbers to stand up for Liam Óg.
“Two years of genocide and over 75 years of ethnic cleansing, and who gets pulled up in front of the courts? A rapper - a Gaeilgeoir - from west Belfast. Where is Netanyahu’s day in court? Why isn’t Keir Starmer getting his door kicked through, being arrested and pulled up in front of the courts? The same goes for David Lammey, Kemi Badenoch and everyone else giving the green light to this rotten Israeli regime.
“Not only are these people content with 100,000 Palestiians being killed over the last two years, but in recent days we’ve seen these sick, twisted warhawks trying to sharpen their knives to launch further bombs and a war in Iran. We protest today to say no to war in Iran and any other country.
“This is a cruel act of repression from the British government, but it’s also a sign of desperation. These dyed in the wool Zionists know they’re losing the argument. More and more people across Ireland and Britain are standing up for the Palestinian people. Israel is losing legitimacy and losing its support.
“Our task is to keep the campaign going, to stand with Liam Óg, Kneecap and everyone else being targeted by the British and Irish states for having the temerity and the guts to stand up against genocide and for Palestinian liberation. We also have to continue this fight until people like Keir Starmer are in this court house, locked up for their crimes.
“We also need to ensure that the Irish government ends its trade with Israel and stops facilitating the Israeli war machine. We also have to call out the role played by Stormont in allowing F35 parts to be built, supported and funded by the Executive.”
See Gerry Carroll's Instagram to hear the speech.