Rod Stewart fires veiled rebuke to pro-Palestine acts Kneecap and Bob Vylan as he makes return to Glastonbury
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ROD Stewart fired a veiled rebuke to pro-Palestine acts Kneecap and Bob Vylan as he made a sensational return to Glastonbury today.
The 80-year-old appeared on the Pyramid Stage a day after a day of shame on Saturday for the massive three day festival.
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Rod Stewart on the Glastonbury Pyramid Stage
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Rod said music 'brings people together'
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Kneecap on stage on Saturday
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Bob Vylan waves Palestine flag
Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
Punk rap duo Bob Vylan led the crowd in a chant of 'death to the IDF', referencing the Israeli Defence Force, which was broadcast live on the BBC.
And Kneecap fans jeered Rod Stewart's name after they namechecked him, called him 'Rod the Prod' and mocked 'He's older than Israel.'
Asked if their fans were going to see Rod's show, the question was met by boos, which may have been a reaction to Rod saying he's is a big fan of Nigel Farage and the Reform Party.
But the Celtic-daft crooner emerged to huge cheers for his Legends spot to pipers playing 'Scotland the Brave'.
He told the fans: " I'm here, enjoy yourselves ladies and gentlemen please."
In an apparent jibe towards the divisive performances of Saturday, he said: "Music brings us together, we need music.
"There's been a lot about the Middle East lately, quite rightly so, but I want to draw your attention to the Ukraine with the next song, called The Love Train."
He kicked off his set with his hit Tonight I'm Yours before singing other hits like The First Cut is the Deepest.
Asked where Britain's political future now lay, he told The Times earlier this week: 'It's hard for me because I'm extremely wealthy, and I deserve to be, so a lot of it doesn't really touch me.
'But that doesn't mean I'm out of touch. For instance, I've read about Starmer cutting off the fishing in Scotland and giving it back to the EU. That hasn't made him popular.
Lord of the Rings star breaks down in tears after making surprise appearance on stage at Glastonbury
'We're fed up with the Tories. We've got to give Farage a chance. He's coming across well. What options have we got? I know some of his family, I know his brother, and I quite like him.'
Asked what Mr Farage stands for aside from Brexit, tighter immigration and controversial economic promises he replied: 'Yeah, yeah. But Starmer's all about getting us out of Brexit and I don't know how he's going to do that.
'Still, the country will survive. It could be worse. We could be in the Gaza Strip.'
Meanwhile, Kneecap will not be prosecuted by terror cops over their "kill your MP" remarks.
The Irish band - who the BBC refused to broadcast live at Glastonbury yesterday - were subject of a terror probe by the Met Police unrelated to their appearance at the festival.
It concerned a video from a November 2023 gig which emerged last month and saw one band member calling for the death of British politicians.
He could be heard in the footage saying: 'The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.'
The trio - which includes Liam Og O hAnnaidh, Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh - responded with a grovelling statement, including to the families of murdered MPs Sir David Amess and Jo Cox, insisting they would not incite violence against any individual.
However, Avon & Somerset Police is carrying out its own investigation into comments made by Kneecap and rap duo Bob Vylan on Glastonbury's West Holts Stage on Saturday.
Ó Caireallain called on the crowd to "riot" outside Westminster magistrates in August when bandmate O hAnnaidh returns to court in August on another terror charge.
Kneecap started their performance yesterday afternoon by chanting "f*** Keir Starmer".
They also spoke out in support of Palestine Action and prior to appearing on stage, the band put a post onto their social media accounts showing a photo of O Dochartaigh in a 'We Are All Palestine Action' t-shirt.
The anti-Israel activist group could soon be banned in the UK.
Meanwhile, a statement said Glastonbury chiefs are 'appalled' after music double act Bob Vylan led the crowd in "death to the IDF" chants during their performance.
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.
It comes after Israeli politicians blasted the BBC and Glastonbury for failing to cut off the performance during the live broadcast of the festival.
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.
Bob Vylan - which consists of singer Bobby Vylan and guitarist Bobbie Vylan - then shared a post on X of the former eating an ice-cream with the caption: "While Zionists are crying on socials, I've just had a late night (vegan) ice cream."
The BBC later took down the broadcast on the iPlayer but has been criticised for not cutting it off immediately after the anti-Semitic chanting, with the live feed continuing for another 40 minutes.
O hAnnaidh was charged under the Terrorism Act last month after allegedly displaying a flag in support of proscribed terrorist group Hezbollah while saying "up Hamas, up Hezbollah" during a gig in Kentish Town, north London, in November.
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Rhyl Journal
26 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
BBC under pressure amid criticism of ‘death to the IDF' chants at Glastonbury
Rapper Bobby Vylan, of rap punk duo Bob Vylan, on Saturday led crowds on the festival's West Holts Stage in chants of 'Free, free Palestine' and 'Death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)'. A member of Belfast rap trio Kneecap suggested fans 'start a riot' at his bandmate's forthcoming court appearance related to a terrorism charge. Responding to the chants from Bob Vylan, the Prime Minister 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.' A member of Kneecap said 'f*** Keir Starmer' during their performance after the Prime Minister called for the band not to play at the festival. Avon and Somerset Police said video evidence from the performances would be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation. Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis said Bob 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,' she said in a statement. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said Bob Vylan was 'inciting violence and hatred' and should be arrested and prosecuted. 'By broadcasting his vile hatred, the BBC appear to have also broken the law,' he said. 'I call on the Police to urgently investigate and prosecute the BBC as well for broadcasting this. Our national broadcaster should not be transmitting hateful material designed to incite violence and conflict,' he posted on X. Health Secretary Wes Streeting called it a 'pretty shameless publicity stunt' and said the BBC and Glastonbury have 'questions to answer about how we saw such a spectacle on our screens', speaking to Sky News. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called the scenes 'grotesque'. 'Glorifying violence against Jews isn't edgy. The West is playing with fire if we allow this sort of behaviour to go unchecked,' she wrote on X. Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said she was 'horrified' and that the BBC should have cut the feed. 'Given the nature of the attacks on Israel, the BBC should not have kept broadcasting that. They should have cut the coverage immediately,' she told Times Radio. Liberal Democrat culture, media and sport spokesman Max Wilkinson said: 'Bob Vylan's chants at Glastonbury yesterday were appalling. Cultural events are always a place for debate, but hate speech, antisemitism and incitements to violence have no place at Glastonbury or anywhere in our society.' 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After BBC's latest anti-Semitic storm, LEO MCKINSTRY on why free speech has never implied the right to incite violence
The BBC has reached a disgraceful new low in its accelerating ethical decline. In an astonishing dereliction of duty, the BBC did not pull the plug on punk duo Bob Vylan as they embarked on an anti-Semitic rant before a Palestinian flag-waving crowd. Instead, it continued to live-stream the performance, effectively treating the glorification of anti-Israeli violence as a casual dose of Saturday afternoon entertainment. A BBC spokesman said yesterday that they had issued an on-screen warning 'about the very strong and discriminatory language' during Bob Vylan's performance and it was later removed from iPlayer. But that limp response is utterly inadequate. Why was the live feed not immediately cut? Does anyone seriously believe the BBC would have shown such spineless inertia if a performer had dared to voice hardline anti-Islamic or anti-immigration rhetoric? Equally unconvincing was the stance of organiser Emily Eavis, whose father Michael co-founded the festival. She released a mealy-mouthed statement insisting that she doesn't necessarily share the political views of performers, and insisted the real themes of Glastonbury are 'hope, unity, peace and love'. After Saturday's spectacle, those words ring hollow. The trouble at Glastonbury on Saturday was caused not just by Vylan but also by the radical Belfast rap trio Kneecap, which has gained notoriety for its endorsement of Irish paramilitaries and the pro-Palestinian cause. And in November 2023, they released a video that stated: 'The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your MP.' So incendiary is their message that many had called for their Glastonbury set to be axed. Eavis refused. Even the enfeebled BBC was sufficiently chary of livestreaming its Saturday performance at Glastonbury. But the baton of intolerance was taken up by Bob Vylan with chilling enthusiasm. The Kneecap warmup act lead the 30,000-strong crowd in a chant of 'Free Palestine' - an aggressive anthem widely loathed by Jews for its anti-Semitic overtones - before the band's frontman, who goes by the moniker Bobby Vylan, then started to rant, 'Death to the IDF ' – the Israeli Defence Force. Let's be clear: in practice, these morbid words amount to a call for the destruction of the Jewish people's homeland, since the IDF is the only effective barrier between the survival of Israel or the triumph of its enemies. Vylan and Kneecap like to wail about the supposed genocide of the Palestinians, but the emasculation of Israel would result in mass slaughter on an epic scale. Some purists might argue that, in a democracy, free speech must be protected and therefore these voices should be heard. But freedom of expression has never implied the right to incite violence or murder. Both those actions have always been serious criminal offences – and should be handled with the full rigour of the law. The broadcaster's own editorial guidelines state the following: 'Material that contains hate speech should not be included in output unless it is justified by the context. Broadcasting hate speech can constitute a criminal offence if it is intended or likely to stir up hatred relating to race, or intended to stir up hatred relating to religious belief.' Rightly, Lord Carlile – crossbench peer and former independent government reviewer of terrorism legislation – has warned that BBC executives could now face charges, as police investigate their handling of Vylan's performance. Meanwhile, the Left's sudden pious wailing about free speech reeks of hypocrisy, given that these are the very campaigners who are often at the forefront of cancel culture. Trying to silence their opponents is a favourite tactic, particularly through accusations of Islamophobia and racism. It was that same ideological suppression that allowed predatory grooming gangs to operate with impunity across towns in the North and Midlands. But then this whole saga is riddled with double standards and contradictions. Yesterday, the Metropolitan Police announced that they are not going to take any action against Kneecap over the trio's call to kill Conservative MPs, a decision that stands in stark contrast to the harsh sentence handed to Lucy Connolly, the wife of a West Northamptonshire Conservative councillor. She was jailed for more than two years for sending an inflammatory tweet about migrants during last summer's riots. To many, Connolly is a symbol of the two-tier justice system that has developed in Britain, where people from certain Left-wing groups – like pro-Palestinian demonstrators - are treated more leniently than those who express conservative views. But it is the BBC who made the greatest misjudgement in this case - and it is because its perspective has undoubtably been warped by its obsession with Glastonbury as an enormously significant cultural landmark, with the result that it treats the festival with uncritical reverence. No expense was spared. Hundreds of BBC staffers descended on Worthy Farm - all at licence fee-payers' cost. Every act was breathlessly praised. The broadcaster was less a neutral observer, more a cheerleader. Yet for all its resources, the BBC failed to conduct even basic checks on Bob Vylan -or to intervene when their set descended into an anti-semitic rant.
