Anti-Israel Hate Platformed at Coachella Music Festival: "After Nova, How Can Music Festivals Promote Hate Speech?"

April 22, 2025

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a global Jewish human rights organization, condemns the incendiary and anti-Israel hate displayed by the band Kneecap during their performance at the Coachella Music Festival, where the words “F*** Israel” were projected onstage alongside inflammatory and false accusations of genocide.

Jim Berk, CEO of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said: “At its best, music should bring people together and spread empathy, not hate. It’s therefore remarkable that Kneecap used a music festival to foment hate—exactly the kind of gathering where, on October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists brutally murdered, raped, burned and kidnapped innocent young people at the Nova Music Festival in Israel.”

Kneecap’s stunt wasn’t a political or artistic statement: It was a rallying cry for hate that puts a target on the backs of Jews worldwide and dehumanizes an entire national group. Since the October 7 attacks and the war they started, anti-Israel rhetoric has been accompanied by a surge in antisemitism around the world. Kneecap is well aware of that, as Ireland is in the midst of a wave of antisemitism that has brought serious attacks on Jewish communities.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center invites the members of Kneecap and the organizers of Coachella for a discussion about the consequences of hate and a simplistic grasp of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. “We believe music and music-makers should be part of the solution and not the problem” said Jim Berk.

For further information, please email Erik Simon at esimon@wiesenthal.com, Deborah Camiel at dcamiel@wiesenthal.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed. 

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish human rights organization. It holds consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS, and the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO).