Suzanne Harrington: How can people protesting terrorism be the terrorists?

We need to end the inversion of reality

Liam Og O hAnnaidh (Mo Chara) of Irish hip hop trio Kneecap arrives at Westminster Magistrates Court to attend a hearing after being charged with terror offence for allegedly displaying a flag in support of proscribed organisation Hezbollah at a London concert in November last year in London, United Kingdom on August 20, 2025. Pic: Wiktor Szymanowicz

Outside Westminster Magistrate’s Court, amid a sea of Irish and Palestinian flags, an older lady from Galway tells me she had never heard of Kneecap until Liam Óg’s arrest on farcical ‘terrorism’ charges. “I’ve heard of them now,” she says, pointing to her Free Mo Chara badge.

On the small makeshift stage, comedian Tadgh Hickey takes the mic. “Let’s observe a minute’s silence,” he says gravely. “For Bono’s feelings.” Then he bounces into a song dedicated to the British establishment, titled Are Ye Sorry For What Ye’ve Done? Someone holds up a sign saying “We’ll trade ye Liam Óg for Bono and McGregor.” A well-to-do Dublin lady next to me, looking up from her phone, fairly fizzes with glee: “The judge has appointed a translator. Ha!” Like the Kneecap film, except funnier. And decidedly more surreal.

Despite the London Metropolitan Police imposing Public Order Act conditions the night before Liam Óg’s second court date, with the intention of cramming supporters onto a small section of pavement, there are simply too many of us.

We spill onto Marylebone High Street in what the organisers have called a Fenian Fleadh. The police have little choice but to close off the road to traffic. It’s only 9am and everyone is singing along to Whiskey In The Jar, led by Na Chairde Collective, who tirelessly play song after Irish song for the entire morning, from I’ll Tell Me Ma to the Fields of Athenry. By mid-morning we are hoarse. Shouts of “tiocfaidh ár lá” ring out in front of the court building — a phrase not often heard on the streets of central London, especially when comically mispronounced by well-meaning Sassanachs: Chucky Allah.

The songs are interspersed with speakers — from Irish-speaking poets and harp players to Palestinian doctors who have experienced the horrors of Gaza first hand. The emphasis is very much on what is happening in Palestine, rather than to Kneecap — one of the most moving contributions comes from an older Palestinian speaker who talks about the enduring love and solidarity of his “Irish brothers and sisters”.

When Liam Óg finally emerges, flanked by his bandmates, lawyer, and manager, we have been outside the court for almost five hours. Inside, legendary 85-year-old human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce — Emma Thompson played her in In The Name Of The Father after Peirce defended the Guildford Four — is doing her best to get the case thrown out; instead, the judge decides to reconvene in September.

Liam Óg reminds the crowd to stay focused on the real story — Palestine — rather than the “carnival of distraction”. That he is not the story (except right now, he is – and he’d rather not be). That it’s “political policing”.

In a further inversion of reality, writer Sally Rooney has also had the word ‘terrorist’ thrown at her in recent days, thanks to her vocal and financial support for ‘terrorist’ group Palestine Action. This group has been proscribed as ‘terrorist’ — in the same category as Isis and al-Qaeda — for throwing paint at weapons used to mass murder civilians.

In recent weeks, we have all experienced the cognitive dissonance of watching elderly and wheelchair-using peaceful protesters being carted off in central London in police vans as ‘terrorists’, for holding up hand-written signs saying ‘I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action’. How long can this reality inversion continue? How can people protesting terrorism be the terrorists? Edward Snowden sums it up: “When exposing a crime is treated as committing a crime, you are being ruled by criminals.”