UK government condemns ‘death to the IDF’ chants at Glastonbury music festival
A music act at star-studded Glastonbury festival, which features big names like Rod Stewart, The 1975 and Doechii has been condemned for leading pro-Palestine chants.
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A British punk-rap group is now under fire for making anti-Israel remarks at the Glastonbury music festival that have sparked a police inquiry.
This year’s festival includes big name acts including The 1975, Neil Young, and Olivia Rodrigo, who headlined the Pyramid Stage, along with Rod Stewart performing in the Sunday Legends slot.
Other notable acts included Charli XCX, Doechii, Loyle Carner, The Prodigy, and Wolf Alice.
It was English punk duo Bob Vylan who led crowds in chants of “Death, death to the IDF”, a reference to the acronym for the Israeli military, during their set on the weekend.
The chants about Israel’s military, condemned by the Israeli embassy in London, were led by Bob Vylan’s frontman Bobby Vylan.
They were broadcast live on the BBC, which airs coverage of Britain’s most popular music festival.
“I thought it’s appalling, to be honest,” Wes Streeting, the Labour’s government’s health secretary, said of the chants, adding that “all life is sacred”.
“I think the BBC and Glastonbury have got questions to answer about how we saw such a spectacle on our screens,” he told Sky News.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer told The Telegraph on Sunday that “there is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech.”
“The BBC needs to explain how these scenes came to be broadcast,” he said, referring to the country’s national broadcaster.
“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,” the festival said in a statement.
Avon and Somerset police said that video evidence would be assessed by officers “to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation”.
The Israel embassy said in a statement that “it was “deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival”.
But Streeting also took aim at the embassy, telling it to “get your own house in order”.
“I think there’s a serious point there by the Israeli embassy. I wish they’d take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously,” he said, citing Israeli settler violence in the West Bank.
A spokesperson for the BBC said Vylan’s comments were “deeply offensive” and the broadcaster had “no plans” to make the performance available on its on-demand service.
British police officers are also examining comments by the Irish rap trio Kneecap, whose members have likewise been highly critical of Israel and its military campaign against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
One of Kneecap’s members wore a T-shirt dedicated to the Palestine Action Group, which is about to be banned under UK terror laws.
Kneecap, which has made headlines in recent months with its pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel stance, also led crowds in chanting abuse against UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Starmer and other politicians had said the band should not perform after its member Liam O’Hanna, known by his stage name Mo Chara, was charged with a terror offence.
“I said that Kneecap should not be given a platform and that goes for any other performers making threats or inciting violence,” Mr Starmer told The Telegraph.
O’Hanna appeared in court this month accused of having displayed a Hezbollah flag while saying “Up Hamas, Up Hezbollah” after a video resurfaced of a London concert last year.
The Iran-backed Lebanese force Hezbollah and the Palestinian militant group Hamas are banned in the UK, and it is an offence to express support for them.
O’Hanna has denied the charge and told the Guardian newspaper in an interview that “it was a joke - we’re playing characters”.
But Kneecap regularly lead crowds in chants of “Free Palestine” during its concerts, and fans revere them for their anti-Establishment stance and criticism of British imperialism, while detractors call them extremists.
The group apologised this year after a 2023 video emerged appearing to show one singer calling for the death of British Conservative politicians.
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Originally published as UK government condemns ‘death to the IDF’ chants at Glastonbury music festival