Bob Vylan performing on the West Holts stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset, June 28, 2025
Campaigners promise to welcome the US president to Scotland with a ‘festival of resistance’
BOB VYLAN have hit back at being “targeted for speaking up” after police began an investigation into comments made during their set at the Glastonbury Festival.
The punk rap duo prompted Establishment outrage by leading chants of “Death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]” during a live-streamed performance at the Somerset music festival on Saturday afternoon.
The BBC apologised after the set at the West Holts Stage was live-streamed, on Monday claiming the chants were “anti-semitic sentiments” and “unacceptable.”
Bobby Vylan, one half of the British duo, also led his audience in chants that included “Free, free Palestine.”
Posting a statement on Instagram on Tuesday, the group said: “The government doesn’t want us to ask why they remain silent in the face of this atrocity?
“To ask why they aren’t doing more to stop the killing? To feed the starving?
“The more time they talk about Bob Vylan, the less time they spend answering for their criminal inaction.
“We are being targeted for speaking up. We are not the first, we will not be the last, and if you care for the sanctity of human life and freedom of speech, we urge you to speak up too.”
The fallout from the Kneecap and Bob Vylan performances at Glastonbury raises questions about the suitability of senior BBC management for their roles, says STEPHEN ARNELL
Despite declining to show Kneecap’s set, the BBC broadcast Bob Vylan leading a ‘death to the IDF’ chant — and the resulting outrage has only amplified the very message the Establishment wanted silenced, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
BBC accused of silencing acts at Glastonbury for standing in solidarity with Palestine