Chief Rabbi: BBC airing of vile Jew-hatred is national shame

Telegraph

6 hours ago

The Chief Rabbi has criticised the BBC over its response to a rapper who chanted 'death, death to the IDF' at Glastonbury.
Bob Vylan, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, repeated the phrase in a performance that was broadcast live by the BBC.
The corporation has expressed regret at not pulling the livestream, with the Culture Secretary claiming the issue should have been foreseeable and constituted 'a problem of leadership' for the broadcaster.
But in a post on X, Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis described the incident as a 'time of national shame'.
He said: 'This is a time of national shame. The airing of vile Jew-hatred at Glastonbury and the BBC's belated and mishandled response brings confidence in our national broadcaster's ability to treat anti-Semitism seriously to a new low.
'It should trouble all decent people that now, one need only couch their outright incitement to violence and hatred as edgy political commentary, for ordinary people to not only fail to see it for what it is, but also to cheer it, chant it and celebrate it.
'Toxic Jew-hatred is a threat to our entire society.'
The Chief Rabbi's comments came as the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAAS) issued calls for Tim Davie, the BBC's director general, to be sacked following Bob Vylan's set.
The campaign group said that if the event was 'not met with the firmest condemnation and recourse, then it is the surest sign yet that Britain is becoming a haven for hatred and unsafe for Jews'.
Mr Davie, who was visiting staff at the festival on Saturday afternoon, was informed of the chant shortly after it had been made and ruled that the rap duo's set should not be made available to watch on demand. However, the chant remained on iPlayer for another five hours.
Sources stressed that pulling the livestream was not discussed, but a spokesman said that, in hindsight, the BBC regretted that this decision was not taken.
A BBC source said: 'Tim was there for a few hours to see the team. He was made aware during the time he was there of what had been said on stage. He intervened to make sure the performance was not made available on demand and he was very clear about that.
'Pulling the livestream brings certain technological challenges. With hindsight, we would have taken it down. He would have asked what the options were, but it isn't as straightforward as hitting a button and taking it down.'
Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, suggested that the incident called Mr Davie's position into question.
Speaking in the Commons, she said: 'When you have one editorial failure, it's something that must be gripped. When you have several, it becomes a problem of leadership.'
Ms Nandy was responding to a question from Peter Prinsley, the MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, who said: 'The murder of hundreds of Jews at the Nova music festival in October 2023 sparked this war. The irony of broadcast anti-Semitism at Glastonbury here in the UK is not lost on any of us.
'So how are Jews, such as myself, in this country to be reassured about the editorial processes of the BBC? And who on Earth will be held accountable for this error?'
Ms Nandy said accountability was 'an extremely important point' and 'something that I've impressed upon the BBC leadership'.
It is the latest anti-Semitism controversy to engulf the BBC. Earlier this year, the corporation was forced to apologise for 'serious flaws' in a documentary about Gaza, which failed to disclose that the narrator was the son of a Hamas official. Its news reporting on Israel-Gaza has also been criticised.
Earlier on Monday, Israel's deputy foreign minister called on Mr Davey to step down if no one was fired over the broadcasting of the chant.
Sharren Haskel told The Telegraph's Daily T podcast there should be an investigation into why it took the broadcaster so long to remove the hate speech from the BBC iPlayer on Saturday.
During their appearance at Glastonbury, Bob Vylan chanted 'Free! Free!' and the crowd responded 'Palestine!', before they led fans in the chant of 'death, death to the IDF'.
Pascal Robinson-Foster, the group's frontman, who performs as Bobby Vylan, also ranted about a Jewish record company boss for whom he had worked.
The set was not made available on demand, where programmes can be accessed and watched on iPlayer after their live broadcast has finished.
However, it was possible to rewind and watch it back before the live broadcast from the stage where Bob Vylan were performing had finished.
The corporation said it regretted broadcasting the 'unacceptable' words, adding: 'The anti-Semitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves. We welcome Glastonbury's condemnation of the performance.'
Ms Haskel told the Daily T: 'Who's responsible for that? This is literally someone calling for violence, for ethnic cleansing, for the destruction and the annihilation of the only Jewish state in the world.
'So if there's no one that will take responsibility, if no one will be fired over such an outrageous thing, then I think that Tim Davie should take responsibility because there has to be accountability for that.'
Asked to clarify whether she was calling for the resignation of the director general, who has been in the post since 2020, she said: 'If there's no one responsible for that, and if no one's going to be fired over such an outrageous thing, Tim Davie should take responsibility and resign.'
Ms Haskel also called for an investigation into the BBC's coverage of the Middle East, adding: 'There should be an inquiry regarding the BBC coverage.
'It was fully biased. Many mistakes were made. not just in the coverage since Oct 7, but their coverage in the Middle East in general and also about how they address anti-Semitism in the UK. How is it possible that something like that has been normalised in the UK? I just don't get it.'
In a statement, the BBC said: 'Millions of people tuned in to enjoy Glastonbury this weekend across the BBC's output, but one performance within our livestreams included comments that were deeply offensive.
'The BBC respects freedom of expression but stands firmly against incitement to violence.
'The performance was part of a live stream of the West Holts stage on BBC iPlayer. The judgment on Saturday to issue a warning on screen while streaming online was in line with our editorial guidelines. In addition, we took the decision not to make the performance available on demand.
'The team were dealing with a live situation, but with hindsight, we should have pulled the stream during the performance. We regret this did not happen.
'In light of this weekend, we will look at our guidance around live events so we can be sure teams are clear on when it is acceptable to keep output on air.'
Ofcom said it would examine the BBC's decision to air the performance. The watchdog said the BBC 'clearly has questions to answer' over how the set was shown live.
An Ofcom spokesman said: 'We are very concerned about the livestream of this performance, and the BBC clearly has questions to answer.
'We have been speaking to the BBC over the weekend and we are obtaining further information as a matter of urgency, including what procedures were in place to ensure compliance with its own editorial guidelines.'
A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Police added: 'Video footage and audio from Bob Vylan and Kneecap's performances at Glastonbury Festival on Saturday has been reviewed. Following the completion of that assessment process we have decided further enquiries are required and a criminal investigation is now being undertaken.
A senior detective has been appointed to lead this investigation. This has been recorded as a public order incident at this time while our enquiries are at an early stage. The investigation will be evidence-led and will closely consider all appropriate legislation, including relating to hate crimes.'
Avon and Somerset Police also began a review of footage of the set to determine whether any criminal offences were committed.
Sir Keir Starmer has condemned the incident as 'appalling hate speech', while the organisers of Glastonbury issued a statement in which they said it had 'crossed a line'.
On Monday, Bob Vylan were banned
The BBC had previously decided it would not allow a performance by Kneecap to be broadcast as part of the livestream after the pro-Palestinian Northern Irish rappers became embroiled in a separate controversy.
Liam O'Hanna, a member of the group, has been charged with a terror offence after a flag showing support for Hezbollah was allegedly displayed at one of the band's gigs in London. He denies wrongdoing.
An edited version of Kneecap's performance was subsequently made available by the BBC on its iPlayer platform.