Glastonbury Festival ‘appalled’ by Bob Vylan IDF comments

Glastonbury Festival organisers said they are “appalled” by comments made by punk duo Bob Vylan that called for “death” to the Israeli military during a performance on Saturday.

Rapper Bobby Vylan led chants of “free, free Palestine” and “death, death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]”.

The festival said the statements “very much crossed a line”, while antisemitism campaigners said they will formally complain to the BBC over its “outrageous decision” to broadcast the act live.

A BBC spokesperson previously said some of the comments were “deeply offensive”, adding it had issued a warning on screen about “very strong and discriminatory language”. The set will not be available on BBC iPlayer.

Bob Vylan are an English punk duo based in London. Bobby Vylan serves as the singer and guitarist, while Bobbie Vylan is the drummer of the band. Both members use stage names to maintain their privacy and collectively refer to themselves as “the Bobs”.

A joint Instagram post from Glastonbury Festival and organiser Emily Eavis on Sunday said the event stood “against all forms of war and terrorism”, and that with almost 4,000 performances on site “there will inevitably be artists and speakers appearing on our stages whose views we do not share”.

“However, we are appalled by the statements made from the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan yesterday,” it continued.

“Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.”

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Bob Vylan’s comments were “revolting”.

“If I think about the war in Ukraine, no doubt I want Ukraine to win but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be cheering on the deaths of Russians, I don’t think anyone wins from that,” Streeting said.

He said the “irony of that music festival is that Israelis were taken from a music festival, killed raped and in some cases are still being held captive”.

“Whether you are Israeli or Palestinian, whether you are Christian, Jewish or Muslim, all life is precious and we’re not going to solve one of the most intractable conflicts on earth with those sorts of stunts,” he said.

Streeting was also asked whether he agreed with the Israeli Embassy, who said the comments raise “concerns about the glorification of violence”.

He said “that is a challenge”, before adding that the embassy should also get its “own house in order”, referencing reports this week of Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank after dozens of Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian village.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism group said in a post on X that Glastonbury had “continued its headlong descent into a pit of extremism and hatred, but it is the behaviour of the BBC that is even more dangerous”.

It said it would formally complain to the BBC for broadcasting the performance, as well as that of Irish-language rap group Kneecap, who have previously described Israel’s military action in Gaza as a genocide.

Kneecap has made headlines in recent months after rapper Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, was charged with a terrorism offence.

He is accused of displaying the flag of proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah at a gig last year. He has denied the charge.

Following sets from both groups, Avon and Somerset Police said it would review footage of comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage.

The force said footage “will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation”.

After Bob Vylan’s performance, a government spokesperson said Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy had spoken to BBC director general Tim Davie to seek an “urgent explanation about what due diligence” the broadcaster carried out ahead of airing the act.

The government added that it welcomed the decision not to re-broadcast the performance on BBC iPlayer.

Kneecap’s highly-charged performance on Saturday was watched by thousands as they hit back at Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer with expletive-laden chants, after he previously called the band’s Glastonbury appearance “not appropriate”.

Mr Ó hAnnaidh continues to be on bail and will appear at court for the next hearing on 20 August.

Separately on Sunday, the Met Police said it will not pursue prosecution after videos emerged in April appearing to show Kneecap calling for the death of British MPs.

“A range of offences were considered as part of the investigation. However, given the time elapsed between the events in the video and the video being brought to police attention, any potential summary only offences were beyond the statutory time limit for prosecution,” the force said.