British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Glastonbury organizers said on Sunday they were appalled by on-stage chanting against the Israeli military during a performance at the festival by Punk-rap duo Bob Vylan.
During their show on Saturday, the duo chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in reference to the Israel Defense Forces, the formal name of the Israeli military.
Police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation, but did not name Bob Vylan or Irish rap band Kneecap, who appeared on the same stage and also criticized Israel.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offenses may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England where the festival is held, said on X late on Saturday.
"There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech," Starmer said in a statement. "I said that Kneecap should not be given a platform and that goes for any other performers making threats or inciting violence."
The festival organizers criticized the chanting by Bob Vylan, which comprises the guitarist-singer with the stage name Bobby Vylan and a drummer known as Bobbie Vylan.
"Their chants very much crossed a line and 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," it said on Sunday.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain condemned the "inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed" on stage.
Bob Vylan's band members did not respond to a request for comment.
Starmer also criticized Britain's BBC, which transmits much of the festival live, for showing the performance. "The BBC needs to explain how these scenes came to be broadcast," he said.
The BBC said some of the comments made during Bob Vylan's set were deeply offensive.
"During this live stream on iPlayer, which reflected what was happening on stage, a warning was issued on screen about the very strong and discriminatory language," a spokesperson said. "We have no plans to make the performance available on demand."
KNEECAP NEXT ON STAGE
Bob Vylan's show on the festival's West Holts stage took place just before controversial Irish rap trio Kneecap played to a huge crowd, leading chants against Starmer and also taking aim at Israel.
During the show, frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh accused Israel of committing war crimes, saying: "There's no hiding it."
Known by the stage name Mo Chara, he was charged with a terrorism offense last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert. He has denied the charge.
Starmer had said it was ""not appropriate" for Kneecap to play at the festival.
A senior member of his government, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, earlier on Sunday criticized the chants by Bob Vylan but added that he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
Political commentator Ash Sarkar said it was typical of punk musicians to spark controversy.
"Don't book punk bands if you don't want them to do punk stuff," said Sarkar, a contributing editor to Novara Media, a leftist media organization.
© Thomson Reuters 2025.
20 Comments
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sakurasuki
You know what is more productive in stopping genocide (currently already exceeded 50 thousands),
assists ICJ (International Court of Justice) please in anyway you could.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/25/will-the-uk-drop-objection-to-icc-arrest-warrant-for-netanyahu
GBR48
So when a group kill thousands of women and children, what are the numbers at which they can be criticised and condemned? I guess there is a different number for when they are an ally of your government like Israel, or not, like Russia. Such hypocrisy erases trust in governments.
Negative Nancy
I've been saddened by the clear bias shown by the BBC on this and recent matters concerning the middle east. They used to be the most trustworthy source of news (except of course Japan Today). Starmer seems to be a good guy, and I think he is the right man for the job of PM, but I'm afraid he's not listening to the people on this matter. Tony Blair used to be a hero too....
Alfie Noakes
Only in Starmer's Bankrupt Britain is it hate speech to offend a genocidal army of child murderers.
itsonlyrocknroll
Father attended Glastonbury 1979, 21 with a tent, three day cost £5.
Dads, student "badge of honour" Glastonbury Fayre
He arrived with his tent; Glastonbury Fayre 1979, armed with sixteen “Watney's Party Seven” (four litre) cans of cats wee.
Look, grandma never let him ever forget it,
On fathers return grandpa had to him hose down, fumigate, Dad insisted he was “Che Guevara”, ready to plot revolution in the garden shed.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Glastonbury organizers, need to just trot on, nothing to see here.
What a load of old cobblers, not to be taken seriously.
wallace
itsonlyrocknroll
I also attended in 1979, and before that, and after that.
itsonlyrocknroll
wallace you could well have walked past each other, even been close by in an adjoining tent.
I really don't know what all the fuss is about.
I have never felt the urge to attend 21st century verion of glastonbury festival,
It may have lost its rebellious mojo, the so called commitment to political social/environmental causes. with cocktails, fancy decking, VIP celebrity, with the branding, and business modeling to match.
You are very fortunate to have experienced Glastonbury, in its raw hayday.
Concerned Citizen
It's just words (not good ones), but Israel's wanton slaughter of innocents should be the object of the condemnation. Starmer and the Glastonbury organizers know who they are not allowed to offend.
wallace
itsonlyrocknroll
wallace
you could well have walked past each other, even been close by in an adjoining tent.
We could have even shared a "spliff" together. It was the year I started art college. I attended the first festival in 1970. The last one was in the 1980s.
itsonlyrocknroll
wallace
I have never enquired if father has ever smoked a joint, I guess Dads generation embraced every aspect of 70’s culture.
I suspect he may have taken LSD art blotters, at Reading Rock Festival 1980.
Those were the times,
Today one can reserve a seat on a shared shuttle flight from The London Heliport (from £1,375/seat one-way)
To Glastonbury festival 2025
Father could revisit his “Che Guevara” moment, with the convenience of an hour and thirty-minute round trip.
I feel, in many repests sells-out the 70s rites of passage. the whole experience principal of becoming an adult.
Sorry I just cannot be taken with politics at music festivals, or find such behaviour a reason to stage a hissy fit
kohakuebisu
Nothing at all wrong with a bit of politics in with some music.
Lots and lots of wrong with bombing hospitals, bombing apartment blocks, shooting children in the head with snipers, starving people.... Such despicable acts also desensitize everybody to what armies can do in a war. We may not be on the receiving end this time, but the stage is set for the same thing to happen in wars to come where we may be.
itsonlyrocknroll
70's, UK parliment never even considerd allowing TV cameras, well not until 1985
Social media, Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, and TikTok, Internet, notebooks, would have been seen as science fiction, Brains, thunderbirds talking into his wristwatch.
Google, Email, Amazon, netflix a fantasy world associated with flying saucer, Star wars.
Music indeed Glastonbury made some noise, but not remotely able to influence to status quo, not able to change hearts and minds.
Can Glastonbury 2025, seriously bring about change, with its fake celebrities, its "plastic political" flag waving?
Bob Dylan hit the bullseye,
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind, The answer is blowin’ in the wind
Yrral
Starmer is real lacky,he fortunate of not having a Fatwa against him,like the two other leaders in world by Iran Cleric in their degree today
XCAndtheband
Zionists always want to be hiding behind the “Anti-semitism” excuse when they are rightfully criticized for their actions. And that’s why no government official wants to be seen speaking the truth.
Everyone needs to get through their thick skulls that Israel isn’t being criticized for their religion. They’re being criticized for their actions. No one in power will solve this crisis by tip-toeing around the real issue and giving in to Zionist talking points. Call a spade a spade and keep reminding everyone that criticism of Israel is not the same as “anti-semitism”.
Some dude
The Daily Mail, which is just about as right wing a newspaper as you could dream up, wilfully lied about the chants, claiming that they were aimed at Israelis in general, not the military and their actions in Gaza.
Course they did this on purpose, to inflame the Brexit-voting, ignorant cretins who read their rag.
And let's face it, you invite an Irish rap group called "Kneecap" to a music festival, what are you expecting, inoffensive smooth jazz?
gsa
Death to Israeli military is a fair and just statement.
bass4funk
And you know this based on?
And you have evidence to back this up, right?
Maybe. How about just playing the music I paid you to play, I don’t give a darn about your politics, I just care about your music
Ricky Kaminski13
JT, you are fine with this sort of thing? Stoking those fires again are we with our young, reprehensible, idiot revolutionary zeal? Death to _____ (choose your poison )!!
We are well down the bottom rung of this slippery slope to hell. Aid and abetted.
The death cult will be extremely happy with itself.
They love death the way we love life, remember.
u_s__reamer
Starmer is quick to seize on "WORDS" that are critical of Israelis and their ethnic-cleansing and attempted genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza and in the West Bank because they implicitly impugn his explicit support for the mass-slaughter in the abattoir of the occupied territories, atrocities committed by the IDF on which he has been conspicuously shtum for the last 2 years. As a "Human Rights" lawyer, Starmer is very afraid of being charged with aiding and abetting heinous war-crimes on an industrial scale. So who is he trying to kid? Even children know the difference between words and deeds as when they chant "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words..." The IDF using made-in-America WMDs and every weapon in their arsenal against civilians, now estimated to have killed over 300,000, are nothing if not a terrorist organization. But who has the courage to say this out loud? As Voltaire noted, if you want to know who controls you, you only need to know what you are not allowed to say.
MiuraAnjin
The actions of the IDF are more appalling than a chant at a music festival Sir Keir.
Your indignation is misdirected.