The British rap-punk band Bob Vylan has hit back at a deluge of criticism after their politically charged show at the Glastonbury Festival resulted in chants of “Death to the IDF” and subsequent police inquiry, popular backlash and the cancellation of their U.S. visas.
The band, which combines music and activism, claimed it was being targeted by speaking out against the war in Gaza and had not made antisemitic comments.
We are not pro-death of Jews, Arabs or any other race or group of people, an Instagram statement issued by the band read. We are against the destruction of a war machine. A machine that has killed most of Gaza.”
The aforementioned performance was conducted on June 28, a Saturday on the West Holts Stage, a key location of Glastonbury, where Bob Vylan incited the audience to chant against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
A livestream broadcast of the festival recorded the chant, Death to the IDF, which soon became an internet sensation, attracting condemnation by politicians, Jewish organizations, and the press.
Protest Music to Police Investigation
An official investigation was now being undertaken by Avon and Somerset Police attempting to establish whether any criminal offence was committed under British hate speech or incitement legislation.
The chant was quickly criticized by government officials. The British Home Office spokesman termed it as an abhorring hate speech that has no room in the civil society.
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BBC, which covered the performance as part of its Glastonbury broadcast, made a statement that it was sorry to have livestreamed antisemitic sentiments, and also said that it is examining its editorial processes in the wake of the controversy.
Ephraim Mirvis, the Chief Rabbi of Britain, went online to say that he was disappointed.
He wrote on X (formerly Twitter): The broadcast of the filthy Jew-hatred by the BBC is a national disgrace. What should alarm all decent people is that one only has to frame incitement to violence as edgy political commentary to get people cheering at it.
Gaza Conflict as the Nexus of Cultural Conflicts
The reaction is against the backdrop of increased tensions in the world concerning the Israeli war in Gaza, which started in October 2023 after Hamas, a Palestinian terror organization attacked Israel killing approximately 1,200 individuals.
Israel retaliated by sending in a large-scale military operation that has taken the lives of more than 56,000 in Gaza as shown by the health ministry of the land.
This war has prompted mass protest in the major cities, campuses of the universities and the populations in the public forums across the world.
Pro-Palestinian movements have come to the fore but with them, there has been an intense amount of scrutiny regarding how Israel is critiqued.
Israel and most of its allies state that these protests tend to confuse the border between political criticism and antisemitic rhetoric.
However, critics assert that allegations of antisemitism are being increasingly deployed to muzzle an opposing voice and to clamp down on free speech, particularly among artists, students and activists.
This issue was also expressed by Bob Vylan:
We are used as a diversion to the narrative. The plot is Gaza. The narrative is a mass death. The account is injustice.”
Fallout, Travel Ban and Censorship Allegations
After the Glastonbury performance, the U.S. cancelled the visas of Bob Vylan, something that some legal experts believe has never before happened to a political gesture of expression that was not criminal.
The two had been set to launch a North American tour in August, which it is now canceling all dates.
According to industry experts in music, the revoking of their visa sends a chilling message to artists who intend to speak up against controversial worldwide matters.
A spokesperson of the nonprofit organization Artists for Justice, which represents political musicians, called it a dark moment of creative freedom. One thing is to differ with what is spoken, another to set out to silence any one altogether.
Other Artists not spared
Bob Vylan is not alone in getting political flak by Glastonbury. Irish hip-hop group Kneecap, who also participated in pro-Palestinian activism, also became the focus of the festival.
Kneecap member Liam O 8 hAnnaidh is already being prosecuted under the Terrorism Act in Britain, accused of promoting a proscribed organization after purportedly waving a Hezbollah flag during a 2024 concert in London.
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The current wave of activism by artists and the backlash it elicits is a component of an escalating debate in the realm of politics across the globe on the extent to which musicians can and/or should express themselves politically.
The Bigger Picture
Some feel that artists should be cautious when tackling geopolitics whereas some feel that it is time now more than ever that artists speak truth to power.
The bold, unapologetic messaging Bob Vylan has become known by is an honest approach to racism and classism, policing, and imperialism. To their fans, this is precisely why they count.
It is not about what you think of the method, said one of the festival-goers in twitter, but to stifle artists to defend Gaza when thousands of people are dying every day? That is the scandal.”
The future of the police investigation is not clear yet. And though Bob Vylan might not be allowed to tour the U.S., their message, whether it is controversial or not, is now reverberated miles and miles outside the Glastonbury fields.
