The government has issued a strong denunciation of chants performed by the rap punk duo Bob Vylan at the Glastonbury Festival, which called for ‘death’ to the Israeli military during a live broadcast by the BBC. During their performance on the West Holts Stage, rapper Bobby Vylan led the audience in chants of ‘free, free Palestine’ and ‘death, death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces],’ shortly before the Belfast rap trio Kneecap took the stage. A spokesperson for the BBC characterized some of the remarks as ‘deeply offensive’ and noted that a warning about ‘very strong and discriminatory language’ had been displayed on screen. Additionally, the performance will not be available for viewing on BBC iPlayer. Authorities are currently reviewing footage of the performances to determine if any laws were violated. In response to the incident, the festival stated, ‘Glastonbury Festival does not condone hate speech or incitement to violence of any kind from its performers.’
