Joe Hildebrand opinion: Tough talk from the weakest in the West

A set at Glastonbury sparked a new trend that is sweeping the world: calling for the death of Jews. Those taking part likely care very little about Palestinians, writes Joe Hildebrand.

Pictured is Bob Vylan at Glastonbury.

It’s always a thrill when a new craze goes viral.

It could be the athletic pursuit of “planking” or the more recent cerebral contest of two 150kg men charging headfirst into each other.

And who could forget the online lolz of millennials licking toilet seats in the early heady days of Covid-19.

And now we have an exciting new trend that is sweeping the world thanks to the edgy musical influencers of Glastonbury: Calling for the death of Jews.

Yes those funster punsters of punk duo Bob Vylan – the wordplay still has me in stitches – really sniffed the wind when they introduced hip progressive festivalgoers to the hot new chant doing the rounds.

Indeed one of the pair, wittily named either Bobby Vylan or Bobbie Vylan, actually delivered the new script as though he was installing a software update into the activist drones in front of him.

After a few obligatory chants of “Free free Palestine!” the singer openly said: “Alright, but have you heard this one though?”

Yes, he was literally informing the crowd in real time that FFP was now passe and there was now a cool new chant doing the rounds.

And then he unveiled this fresh new sound: “Death death to the IDF!”

Bob Vylan performs on the West Holts Stage, during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset. England. Picture: Ben Birchall/PA via AP

Needless to say the crowd – populated by the most affluent, creative, progressive and politically aware members of society – immediately started chanting it without question.

And boy did it take hold. One week later, on the other side of the world, a group of 20 protesters stormed an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne’s CBD and trashed the joint.

And what were they chanting? You guessed it: “Death death to the IDF!”

Yes, they didn’t even need to make up their own slogan. They just downloaded the update and then rolled out the latest brand offering as instructed.

A group of about 20 anti-Israel activists targeted Miznon restaurant in Hardware Lane in Melbourne reportedly chanting "death to the IDF". Picture: NewsWire / Nadir Kinani

And so as far as viral trends go, it’s fair to say it has really taken off. The folks in marketing would be treating themselves to a few extra nose-beers for this one.

As for the actual people in Palestine? It doesn’t matter. Because none of this is about them.

What, for example, do Bob Vylan and their chanting supporters expect to achieve by chanting how much they want Israeli service personnel to die? Do they think that God will hear it often enough and eventually say “Alright guys, you’ve won me over”?

Or are they planning on actually doing it themselves? Actually, God forbid, doing something?

It is hard to picture a graphic designer from Oxfordshire waking up after the disco biscuits wear off and jumping on a plane to Gaza. Even if he made it, I wouldn’t fancy his chances against most Israeli soldiers I’ve seen.

And so here is the most remarkable thing about this oh-so trendy trend: People use it to try to show how hardcore they are but in fact it instantly reveals how weak they are.

By chanting “Death to the IDF” but not doing it they are openly admitting that it is simply empty words they are peddling, that it is simply a performative exhibition of their impotent virtue and nothing to do with the people of Gaza.

Likewise the members of Bob Vylan going out of their way to declare how badass they are, which truly badass people never need to do.

Bobby Vylan of British duo Bob Vylan performs on the West Holts Stage on the fourth day of the Glastonbury festival. Picture: Oli Scarff / AFP

It’s like the drunk at the pub who bangs on about how he could take on anybody and then passes out in a puddle of his own urine.

In another video Bobby Vylan literally brags about how violent his group is and how much he supports violence.

“We’re not pacifist punks, we are the violent punks,” he tells the crowd.

“Because sometimes you gotta get your message across with violence because that is the only language that some people speak.”

OK then.

So what are you doing on stage at a music festival? Go and join Hamas. Go become a suicide bomber. Go be violent.

But again, that would actually be doing something – however reprehensible – and these guys aren’t interested in actually doing anything to help Palestine.

They just want to tell everybody how much they care about it.

It’s all just a performance in more ways than one, whether they are smart enough to know it or not.

No doubt their managers twig when they’re counting the merch sales. Likewise the rioters who have taken up this catchcry are proving how little they actually care about Palestine by essentially taking part in an online pissing contest.

Indeed the most grotesquely absurd thing is that these people call for and glorify violence without having any understanding of it in their self-aggrandising silk-slippered lives.

And so how did this hardman demanding violence respond to the global wave of shock and opprobrium his comments caused?

He posted a picture of himself on social media eating ice cream.

And told everyone it was vegan.

Originally published as Joe Hildebrand opinion: Tough talk from the weakest in the West