UK condemns ‘Death to IDF’ chants led by rapper at Glastonbury festival; police probing – The Times of Israel
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UK probes ‘death to IDF’ chants at Glastonbury festival amid Gaza war
Bobby Vylan led the audience in chanting “Free, free Palestine” and “Death, death to the IDF” Incident comes amid Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, now in its 20th month, which has killed thousands of Palestinians. Israeli Embassy to the UK said it was “deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival” Festival organisers said on Instagram that Vylan’s chants “very much crossed a line”
Authorities said they are reviewing video footage to determine whether any laws were violated that could warrant criminal proceedings.
During the performance, Bobby Vylan led the audience in chanting “Free, free Palestine” and “Death, death to the IDF.” The incident comes amid Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, now in its 20th month, which has killed thousands of Palestinians, including women and children.
UK and Israel condemn ‘death to IDF’ chants at Glastonbury
The anti-Israel chants by the Bob Vylan duo were condemned by the Israeli Embassy, the UK’s health secretary Wes Streeting and the Glastonbury festival’s broadcaster, BBC.
The Israeli Embassy to the UK said on social media that it was “deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival.”
Health secretary Streeting on Sunday condemned the band’s actions as “appalling.” He told Sky News that the BBC and festival organisers had to answer questions about how the comments were broadcast live to millions.
The BBC said it issued a warning on screen about “very strong and discriminatory language” during the live stream. Festival organisers said on Instagram that Vylan’s chants “very much crossed a line.”
“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. With almost 4,000 performances at Glastonbury 2025, there will inevitably be artists and speakers appearing on our stages whose views we do not share, and a performer’s presence here should never be seen as a tacit endorsement of their opinions and beliefs,” it said.
Glastonbury is Britain’s biggest summer music festival, drawing some 200,000 music fans each year to Worthy Farm in southwest England. Almost 4,000 acts are scheduled to perform on 120 stages during the festival, which started on Wednesday and will go on until Monday.
Comment: Emily Eavis was wrong to bow to pressure over Bob Vylan chants
Bob Vylan led crowds in chants of ‘death, death to the IDF’ at Glastonbury. Singer asked crowd if they’d heard Free Palestine before shouting ‘Death to IDF’ Emily Eavis said the chants ‘crossed a line’ and was ‘appalled’ by them. She said there was ‘no place’ at the festival for hate speech or incitement to violence.
This year’s Glastonbury was always going to ruffle a few feathers. A cultural event with hundreds of thousands of people, being broadcast to the entire country, while the world is teetering on world war three? Couple that with the fact that “controversial” Belfast rap group Kneecap were on the billing and outrage was almost guaranteed. But it wasn’t Kneecap who pushed people over the edge in the end. Ironically, it was the last performer they’d decided to film before cutting the stream: Bob Vylan.
After leading chants of Free Palestine (which have been standard at sets across Glastonbury weekend) singer Bobbie Vylan asked the crowd: “But have you heard this one?” before shouting “Death to the IDF” and encouraging fans to respond. Some did, some didn’t. People were conflicted. But that didn’t matter. The clip went viral immediately, with a handful of utter mentalists online comparing it to the Nuremberg rallies, where Nazis would spread their ideology and military propaganda. Once again, ironic, considering who are the ones accused of committing genocide at the moment. But, logic aside, the response was enough to get Emily Eavis involved, who issued a statement saying that the chants “crossed a line”. “There is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence,” she said.
UK Govt Condemns ‘Death To The IDF’ Chants At Glastonbury
The UK government says it is “deeply disturbed” by the anti-Israel chants at the festival. Police are investigating whether any offences have been committed. The chants were made by members of the punk band Kneecap. The group is known for its anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian views. It has been banned from performing in the UK since the Gaza conflict began in 2007. The U.S. government has also banned the group from performing at the U.N. because of its ties to the Palestinian Authority. It is also banned from using its name in public, except in the name of peace and human rights, which it calls a “non-starter” in the United States. The UK government has said it is investigating whether the chants are a violation of the UK’s anti-terror laws, which are meant to protect civilians from attacks by the Israeli military.
Bob Vylan led crowds in chants of “Death, death to the IDF”, a reference to the acronym for the Israeli military, during their set on Saturday.
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.
The UK government has “strongly condemned” Bob Vylan’s chants, which festival organisers said had “very much crossed a line”.
“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 Saturday that video evidence would be assessed by officers “to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation”.
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.
The Israel embassy said in a statement late Saturday 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.
Festival-goer Joe McCabe, 31, told AFP that while he did not necessarily agree with Vylan’s statement, “I certainly think the message of questioning what’s going on there (in Gaza) is right.”
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.
He 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 published Friday that “it was a joke — we’re playing characters”.
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 lawmakers.
Israel began its offensive against Hamas in the Palestinian territory of Gaza after the militants launched an attack that resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 56,412 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers these figures to be reliable.