Ciao,
It felt important to write this one in Irish. English translation below.
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Tá a lán cainte sna meáin Bhéarla faoi Kneecap le déanaí, agus an bhéim ar rudaí a dúirt siad le linn ceolchoirmeacha thar na míonna agus na blianta. Rinne siad ráiteas inné inar maíodh gur dallamullóg atá ar bun, gur iarracht atá ann é a chur ina luí orainn go bhfuil sé níos práinní díriú ar na conspóidí sin ná ar an gcinedhíothú i nGaza. Amhail is dá mba mhian leo an pointe seo a chur i bhfianaise, níor thuairiscigh an BBC ach an chuid ba leithscéalaí den ráiteas: ‘Kneecap apologises to families of two murdered MPs’, gan tagairt ar bith a thabhairt don phríomhtheachtaireacht — go bhfuil cinedhíothú ar siúl is gur mhaith le daoine áirithe go ndéanfaí dearmad air.
Níl sé i gceist agam plé a dhéanamh ar an gconspóid féin; ní bhaintear aon rud as sin ach páirt a ghlacadh sa chur i gcéill. In ionad sin, ba mhaith liom comparáid a dhéanamh idir na rudaí atá ráite ag roinnt Sasanaigh faoi Kneecap agus faoi Ghaza.
Mark Francois, MP: Níl aon ráiteas dá chuid faighte agam ina deirtear … n’fheadar … gur mhór an trua go raibh páistí tar éis bás a fháil, nó mar sin de. Vótáil sé i gcoinne sos cogaidh ar an 15 Samhain 2023. Maidir le Kneecap: ‘MP Mark Francois described it as a “crocodile tears apology” and said the group should not be allowed to play Glastonbury’.
Dan Jarvis, MP: D’aontaigh sé le Francois gur chóir cosc poiblí a chur ar Kneecap. Sa bhliain 2014 bhí sé ag tvuíteáil rudaí ar nós ‘children are never our enemy’ agus ‘appalling tragedy’ faoi Ghaza, ach níor luaigh sé tada in aon áit phoiblí ó shin i leith. Níor shínigh sé fiú litreacha ag éileamh go stopfaí an tacaíocht armtha i dtreo Iosrael, ná go gcuirfí i bhfeidhm barántais ghabhála ICC.
Keir Starmer, Príomh-Aire: Deir sé gur chúis aiféala é an méid báis i nGaza, ach ag deireadh an lae níl sé ráite aige fós cé hiad go díreach atá freagrach as na maruithe nó cá bhfaigheann siad a gcuid arm. Maidir le Kneecap, ‘Sir Keir Starmer said he did not think "individuals expressing those views should be receiving government funding”’. Cad faoin dream atá ag cur deireadh le saol na mílte sibhialtach?
Is minic a chuirtear i leith ‘whataboutery’ (cadfaoineachas?) nuair a luaitear Gaza mar fhreagra ar ábhair eile. Bhuel, fáilte romhat an cháineadh sin a dhéanamh. Cad faoi Ghaza? Fíorwhataboutery atá i gceist nuair a dhéantar plé ar cheist amháin chun ceann eile a sheachaint. Ní hé sin mo chás féin: níl aon rud scríofa agam faoi Kneecap go dtí anois. Nílim anseo chun mé féin a chosaint ó argóint nach raibh baint ar bith agam léi riamh.
Maidir le Kneecap féin, is i gcónaí a bhíonn siad ag caint faoi Ghaza; ní féidir a rá gur whataboutáil atá ann anois. De réir dealraimh, ceapann siad go fírinneach go bhfuil sé níos tábhachtaí plé a dhéanamh ar chinedhíothú ná ar sheanráitis ó ghrúpa rap. Is ait an mac an saol.
(Níl Gaeilge ó dhúchas agam; gabhaim leithscéal as aon bhotúin. Ach is ar éigean a d’fhéadfainn a bheith ag scríobh faoi Kneecap i mBéarla.)
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English translation:
Recently there’s been a lot of talk in English-language media about Kneecap, with the emphasis on things they have said at concerts over the past few months and years. They issued a statement yesterday claiming that there’s a [dallamullóg — untranslatable Irish word meaning some combination of hoax, bamboozlement, smoke and mirrors] afoot, an attempt to convince us that it’s more urgent to focus on these controversies than on the genocide in Gaza. As if to prove the point, the BBC reported only the most apologetic part of the statement: ‘Kneecap apologises to families of two murdered MPs’, without any reference to the main message — that a genocide is happening and that certain people would rather we forgot.
I do not intend to discuss the controversy itself; all that does is make you part of the pretence. Instead I would like to compare what various English people have said about Kneecap and about Gaza.
Mark Francois, MP: I haven’t found any statement from him saying that … I don’t know … it’s a pity children have died, or whatever. He voted against a ceasefire on 15 November 2023. On Kneecap: ‘MP Mark Francois described it as a “crocodile tears apology” and said the group should not be allowed to play Glastonbury’.
Dan Jarvis, MP: He agreed with Francois that Kneecap should be publicly banned. In 2014 he was tweeting things like ‘children are never our enemy’ and ‘appalling tragedy’ about Gaza, but he hasn’t mentioned anything publicly since then. He hasn’t even signed letters demanding an end to armed support for Israel or that ICC arrest warrants be implemented.
Keir Starmer, Prime Minister: He says the number of deaths in Gaza is regrettable, but at the end of the day he has not yet stated who exactly is responsible for the killings or where they get their arms. On Kneecap, ‘Sir Keir Starmer said he did not think "individuals expressing those views should be receiving government funding”’. What about those ending the lives of thousands of civilians?
The accusation of ‘whataboutery’ is often cast around whenever anyone mentions Gaza in response to another topic. Well, you’re welcome to make that complaint. What about Gaza? True whataboutery is when people bring up one issue in order to avoid another. That is not my case: I have not written anything about Kneecap until now. I am not here to defend myself from an argument I have never had anything to do with in the first place.
Re: Kneecap themselves, they talk too often about Gaza for it to suddenly be whataboutery now. It seems they do genuinely think it's more important to discuss genocide than old statements from a rap group. Strange but true. [Originally Is ait an mac an saol — another untranslatable phrase meaning literally ‘life is a strange son’.]
Le meas,
N