Bob Vylan, who was broadcast on BBC iPlayer until the company shut down the concert at Glastonbury, chanted on the stage to demand the deaths of Israeli soldiers.
Keir Starmer has demanded BBC bosses “explain” how a punk duo calling for the death of Israeli soldiers was broadcast from Glastonbury.
Pro-Palestine act Bob Vylan chanted “death, death to the IDF” in a sickening rant on stage at the festival. Bobby Vylan, singer and guitarist of the duo, has since posted a defiant message on Instagram, despite police confirming officers are looking into his tirade.
And the Prime Minister, who also said Glastonbury Festival organisers should not have let controversial rappers Kneecap appear on stage, has described Bob Bylan’s words as “appalling hate speech”. Mr Starmer, 62, said: “There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech. I said that Kneecap should not be given a platform and that goes for any other performers making threats or inciting violence. The BBC needs to explain how these scenes came to be broadcast.”
The BBC, which did not stream Kneecap live, conceded comments made by Bob Vylan were “deeply offensive”. The duo’s performance is no longer available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
After the music double act chanted “death to the IDF” chants during their performance, event directors said they were “appalled.” Prior to this year’s festival, Glostonbury had previously stated that everyone is welcome, but that it “does not condone hate speech or incitement to violence of any kind from its performers.”
READ MORE: BBC issues statement on Kneecap performance after Bob Vylan decision
According to Bob Vylan, the festival’s organizers said on Sunday, “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.” “
Israeli politicians criticized Glastonbury and the BBC for skipping to play the live performance, including Sharren Haskel, the country’s deputy foreign minister.
The singer from the pro-Palestine punk act, who keeps his identity secret, also shouted “from the river to the sea Palestine… will be free” – regarded by Jews as a call for Israel’s elimination. IDF stands for Israel Defence Forces, the national military of the State of Israel, which is currently involved with the war in Gaza, one of two remaining Palestinian territories.
Avon and Somerset Police are now examining video evidence and investigating if any offence had been committed. However, Bobby Vylan has since said on Instagram: “I said what I said.” The dad shared a lengthy statement to follow up, in which he stated: “Tomorrow it is a change in foreign policy.”
As part of our online collection of more than 90 other sets, a BBC spokesperson stated: “We have made an on-demand version of Kneecap’s performance available on iPlayer.
The content adheres to our editorial guidelines and is adapted to reflect the performance from Glastonbury’s West Holts stage.
This is marked with appropriate warnings, as with all content that contains strong language. The BBC doesn’t ban artists, and acts are booked by the festival, as we have already stated. Kneecap live streaming was not available.
