Glastonbury Festival condemns chants of ‘free Palestine' and ‘death to the IDF'
Palestinian flags waved amid the crowd at the Glastonbury Festival on Saturday as several performers led the audience in chants criticizing Israel's continued military campaign in Gaza.
English punk duo Bob Vylan came under fire after appearing to encourage tens of thousands of audience members to call for 'death' to the Israeli Defense Forces during their set. Following chants of 'Free, free Palestine,' singer Bobby Vylan appeared to switch to a different line: 'Death, death to the IDF.'
'From the river to the sea,' Vylan could be seen saying on video shared across social media, 'Palestine must be, will be, inshallah, it will be free.'
Emily Eavis, co-organizer of the Glastonbury Festival in southwestern England, shared in a statement Sunday that the festival is 'appalled' by Vylan's statements.
'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,' Eavis wrote.
She wrote that the organizers stand against 'all forms of war and terrorism' and will always advocate for 'hope, unity, peace and love.'
'With almost 4,000 performances at Glastonbury 2025, there will inevitably be artists and speakers appearing on our stages whose views we do not share,' Eavis added, 'and a performer's presence here should never be seen as a tacit endorsement of their opinions and beliefs.'
The incident comes as criticism of Israel grows louder around the world, with many in the U.K., U.S. and elsewhere protesting the state's continual bombardment of the Gaza Strip, where the death toll has surpassed 55,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel has also been accused of war crimes by the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
On Saturday afternoon, the Avon and Somerset Police were quick to announce in an X post that officers are assessing video evidence to 'determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation.'
The BBC, which aired the festival, also said that some of Vylan's comments onstage 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 wrote in an email. 'We have no plans to make the performance available on demand.'
And in a statement issued by the Israeli Embassy in the United Kingdom, officials denounced speech that they said 'crosses into incitement, hatred, and advocacy of ethnic cleansing.' The embassy wrote that chants like 'Death to the IDF,' and 'From the river to the sea' are phrases that 'advocate for the dismantling of the State of Israel and implicitly call for the elimination of Jewish self-determination.'
'When such messages are delivered before tens of thousands of festivalgoers and met with applause, it raises serious concerns about the normalization of extremist language and the glorification of violence,' the embassy wrote.
Bob Vylan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But the punk group wasn't the only act to land in hot water for its conduct at the festival. Northern Irish rap trio Kneecap — which has stirred controversy before for its vocally pro-Palestinian views — also criticized Israel during its set while encouraging chants of 'Free, free Palestine.'
Last month, British authorities charged Kneecap rapper Mo Chara, whose real name is Liam O'Hanna (or Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh), with a terrorism offense after he was accused of displaying the flag of the Hezbollah militant group. He appeared in court earlier this month.
On Saturday, the band appeared to kick off its set with a video compilation highlighting the terror charge as well as politicians criticizing Glastonbury's decision to allow Kneecap to play, according to clips that circulated online.
'I don't have to lecture you people. Israel are war criminals. It's a f-----g genocide,' O'Hanna told the crowd. He also called attention to the number of Palestinian flags in the audience, adding, 'The BBC editors are gonna have some job.'
He then called on the crowd to join him in the chant, emphasizing the 'difference it makes to people in Palestine when they see people from the other side of the world.'
The band also drew backlash earlier this year when it included pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel messaging at Coachella, where it displayed a screen with the words: 'F--- Israel, Free Palestine.'
'The Irish not so long ago were persecuted at the hands of the Brits, but we were never bombed from the ... skies with nowhere to go,' O'Hanna said at Coachella during the band's second weekend performance. 'The Palestinians have nowhere to go.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Powys County Times
14 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Judges to rule on Palestinian group's legal action over Israel military exports
A Palestinian human rights group will discover on Monday whether it has won a legal challenge against the Government over decisions related to exports of military equipment to Israel amid the conflict in Gaza. Al-Haq is taking legal action against the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) over its decision to continue licensing exports of components for F-35 fighter jets. In September last year, the Government suspended export licences for weapons and military equipment following a review of Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law in the conflict. But an exemption was made for some licences related to parts for F-35s, with lawyers for Al-Haq telling the High Court in May that this 'carve-out' was unlawful and 'gives rise to a significant risk of facilitating crime'. The DBT is defending the challenge, with its barristers telling a four-day hearing in London that the carve-out is 'consistent with the rules of international law' and that suspending the licences would negatively impact a wider international programme. Lord Justice Males and Mrs Justice Steyn are due to hand down their ruling at 10.30am on Monday. At the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice, Raza Husain KC, for Al-Haq, said the case came 'against the backdrop of human calamity' in Gaza, describing the conflict as a 'live-streamed genocide'. In written submissions, he said that the Government misunderstood relevant parts of the Geneva Conventions when there was a clear risk that the parts might be used to commit or facilitate violations of international humanitarian law by Israel. F-35s are part of an international defence programme which produces and maintains the fighter jets, with the UK contributing components for both assembly lines and an international pool. An earlier hearing in the case was told that the decision to 'carve out' licences related to F-35 components followed advice from Defence Secretary John Healey, who said a suspension would impact the 'whole F-35 programme' and have a 'profound impact on international peace and security'. In written submissions for the May hearing, Sir James Eadie KC, for the Government, said that this 'provided justification to take exceptional measures to avoid these impacts and was consistent with the UK's domestic and international legal obligations'. He continued that some of Al-Haq's criticisms 'are not based on a balanced appreciation of the facts' and did not consider 'the true depth and range of the information-gathering and analysis' by the Government when it made the decision.
The Herald Scotland
21 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
American students reveal harrowing stories of fleeing Israel-Iran war
The thousands of escapees included 17 high schoolers from Arizona who huddled in bomb shelters before boarding a cruise ship to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. A dozen Florida State University students studying geopolitics in the Middle East fled to Israel's mountainous Dead Sea region and crossed into Jordan. "It was a fear that I have never felt before," Aidan Fishkind, who was in Israel for a two-month birthright and internship program, told USA TODAY. "We had a missile land two miles from our hostel." The conflict, which has calmed under a delicate ceasefire, came during Israel's busiest tourism season - when birthright trips and programs affiliated with American universities were in full swing. According to the Birthright Israel Foundation, a nonprofit that sponsors young people to visit Israel, the group safely evacuated approximately 2,800 young adults from the country - many of them aboard a luxury cruise ship. The nonprofit canceled its scheduled programs through July 10, according to its website. Meanwhile, the spiraling war also sent Americans in Iran looking for a safe place to wait out Israeli bombardments. Hundreds of Americans fled the country as the conflict escalated, according to an internal State Department cable seen by Reuters last week. More: Iran-Israel conflict leaves Iranian Americans feeling helpless, hopeless 'I was scared for my life' Fishkind, of Detroit, Michigan, arrived in Israel on June 3 for what was to be a two-month trip where he'd intern in the marketing department at the Jaffa Institute, a nonprofit based in Tel Aviv. But a little after his first week, the war broke out and left him and his fellow students scrambling for safety. He recalled the first night after Israel launched its attack on Iranian nuclear sites and Iran responded with a barrage of missiles. He and his group of Detroit-area students received phone alerts about incoming rocket fire and rushed into rooms and stairwells designated "safe zones." Throughout the night, he heard deep dooms that shook the building. He considered whether the rumbles were the sound of Israel's air defense system intercepting rockets or Iranian missiles landing in the city. It was both, he would later learn. "I was scared for my life," he said. In Detroit, his mother, Jennifer Fishkind, booked him multiple flights back home. But one-by-one each flight was canceled as Israeli officials closed the country's airspace. "You just feel helpless being thousands of miles away," she said. "We kept telling him 'You're going to be OK. You're going to be OK.'" The next day, Fishkind and his group left for the Dead Sea region in the south, which was considered much safer than Tel Aviv. There, Fishkind stayed in a hotel and met scores of other students from across the U.S. and Canada. After almost a week, he boarded a cruise ship to Cyprus. Once on the island, he immediately got on a flight to Rome and, eventually, Detroit. Fishkind, who is preparing for his junior year at Elon University in North Carolina, said being back home has been an adjustment. The memories of the sirens and the night he spent sheltering from missiles will take time to process, he said. "When I got back home and laid in bed, I kept thinking 'Did that actually happen?'" Tallahassee student recounts memories of sirens and bunkers Madeline King traveled to Israel with a group of over 20 Florida State University students as part of a mission trip to examine and study the Israel-Gaza conflict. It was organized by FSU's Hillel, the university's largest Jewish campus organization. The group was set to leave Israel and return to Florida on Saturday, June 14 - the day after the Israeli military attacked Iran's nuclear program. The unrest left them temporarily stranded in Tel Aviv, which had become a target of Iranian missiles. "We would hear sirens through the night ... and at every time we would find ourselves going down to the bunkers," King told the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network. Like Fishkind, her group headed to the Dead Sea region near the West Bank. They then crossed into Jordan, where they boarded a flight bound for Cyprus. There, King and hundreds of others got on flights to Florida in an operation coordinated with the state's Division of Emergency Management agency. In all, more than 1,400 state residents have been evacuated from Israel by plane and passenger ferry, Florida state officials said last week. A tearful reunion The group of 17 high school students from Arizona arrived in Israel on June 4 and traveled through the country for a week, learning Jewish religious traditions and the culture and history of Israel. Like their fellow American students, the group soon discovered they couldn't leave by plane as they had originally intended. "It is such a helpless, scary feeling to have your child thousands of miles away going into a bomb shelter multiple times a day as warning sirens ring out and missiles approach Israel," Brett Kurland, a parent to one of the Arizona students, said in a statement, according to the Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network. With the help of Arizona Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, the students managed to get on a luxury cruise ship departing for Cyprus. After an 18-hour voyage they made it to the island and then flew back to the U.S. Scores of families waited for the students at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on June 25. Some stood anxiously with homemade signs while others held flowers and balloons. When the students emerged from the jet bridge, the families cheered and embraced their loved ones in a tearful reunion. Similar scenes unfolded at international airports across the U.S. In Michigan, Jennifer Fishkind and a group of parents embraced their children as they descended from their plane at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. "After all that, you're just waiting to get your arms around them," Fishkind said. "It was the best feeling."
North Wales Chronicle
2 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
British Israeli soldier killed in Gaza, reports say
He was named locally as 20-year-old Sergeant Yisrael Natan Rosenfeld from the city of Ra'anana. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it is 'looking into reports that an IDF soldier who died in combat in Gaza is a British national'. The IDF soldier, of the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion, was killed by an explosive device on Sunday, the Times of Israel reported. The paper said Mr Rosenfeld moved to Israel from London with his family 11 years ago. Israel has been operating in Gaza since the Hamas militant group's October 7 2023 attack on Israel. More than 860 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the war began, including more than 400 during the fighting in Gaza. US-led ceasefire efforts have repeatedly stalled. The Israeli offensive has devastated Gaza and killed more than 56,000 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, a branch of the Hamas government. The death toll is by far the highest in any round of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.
