The charging of Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh from Belfast, better known as Mo Chara of rap group Kneecap, on terror offences is a cynical move by the British establishment to silence those who oppose Zionism, colonialism and Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people.

It is a perfectly legitimate political position to oppose a genocidal, ethnonationalist and colonial political entity such as Israel. The Zionist project is a colonial one which serves the interests of Western imperialism in the Middle East. This is why political leaders in the United States, Britain and Europe range from cheering on and supporting the genocide at worst to offering condemnation with no real substance at best.

It stands to reason that people who oppose genocide and imperialism might wish to voice support for those resisting such things, including groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, as Mo Chara has allegedly done. It is apparently not a crime for Keir Starmer’s government to support genocide and imperialism, despite the fact that Israeli has killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians since late 2023 alone, but it is apparently a crime to hold a flag that the British government doesn’t like.

The world cannot plead ignorance as to what Israel is doing. It is a genocide that is playing out in front of our eyes every day. While some may choose to act the contrarian and worry about a flag instead, there is an obligation on all right-minded people to draw attention to the ongoing genocide, and to support those who are resisting it.

This incident also shows us the precarious nature of freedom of speech in a liberal democracy. Make no mistake about it: this has nothing to do with terrorism, the British establishment is simply going after Kneecap for their political views. The notion that Western countries are somehow above political policing is once again shown to be false.If this had occurred in Russia or China, and somebody was charged for holding the flag of, say, Israel, the United States or the European Union, there would be no nuance afforded by Western politicians, only uproar and outrage over a lack of freedom of expression. Despite what they might claim, this is clearly a partisan issue for the establishment, who wish to stamp down on those challenging Western hegemony.

We stand against genocide and Zionism, for freedom of expression, for the liberation of Palestine, and for a world free from Western hegemony.