Glastonbury organisers appalled at 'death to IDF' chant
Glastonbury organisers say they are appalled by on-stage chanting against the Israeli military during a performance by Punk-rap duo Bob Vylan, saying the music festival is no place for anti-Semitism or incitement to violence.
During their show on Saturday, the duo chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in reference to the Israel Defence Forces, the formal name of the Israeli military.
United Kingdom police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after artists at Glastonbury made anti-Israel comments on stage, without naming Bob Vylan.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England where the festival is held, said on X late on Saturday.
Glastonbury Festival criticised the chanting by Bob Vylan, which comprises the guitarist-singer with the stage name Bobby Vylan and a drummer known as Bobbie Vylan.
"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 anti-Semitism, hate speech or incitement to violence," it said on Sunday.
The Israeli Embassy in the UK condemned the "inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed" on stage at the festival.
Bob Vylan's band members did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Their show on the festival's West Holts stage took place just before controversial Irish rap trio Kneecap played to a huge crowd, leading chants against UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and also taking aim at Israel.
During the show, frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh accused Israel of committing war crimes, saying: "There's no hiding it."
Known by the stage name Mo Chara, he was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah at a concert.
He has denied the charge.
Senior members of Starmer's government also criticised the chants by Bob Vylan.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said it was appalling that the comments had been made on stage, adding that he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously."
Political commentator Ash Sarkar said it was typical of punk musicians to spark controversy.
"Don't book punk bands if you don't want them to do punk stuff," said Sarkar, a contributing editor to Novara Media, a progressive media organisation.
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Time to obliterate the off ramp for language's sake
This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Truth might be the first casualty in war but language falls soon after. For 12 long days we were assailed with an unfamiliar and ugly term, which spread faster than COVID's Omicron strain. As the world held its breath over the Israel-Iran missile exchange, "diplomatic off-ramp" became the jargon du jour. It was trotted out by experts and repeated ad nauseam by journalists. For some reason, it made my teeth hurt every time I heard it. What was wrong with, say, "peaceful compromise", "diplomatic solution" or "exit strategy"? In the language of diplomacy, off-ramp means finding a way out without losing face. "Obliterated" grabbed all the attention after the US dropped its big bombs on Iran's nuclear facilities. When I first heard it uttered by Donald Trump, like many others I thought, "Hang on. How do you know?" Curious, I poked my nose into the dictionary to see what the word actually meant. "To remove all signs of something, either by destroying or covering it completely," the Oxford Dictionary told me. Fordo was out of sight before it was bombed. What it looks like after the strike is anyone's guess. Yet here we were, days later, arguing the toss over President Trump's hyperbolic language. Weekend Fox News anchor turned Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth didn't help matters when defending Trump's imprecise language by saying the facility at Fordo has been "decimated". That suggests its capacity had been reduced by 10 per cent, a far cry from "obliterated". Confusion in the hunt for a linguistic off-ramp for the President. Of course, this isn't the first war in which language has suffered. During the Vietnam War, the term "collateral damage" came into military usage, deployed as a sanitised euphemism for "civilian casualties". "Collateral damage" became a popular buzzword during the 1991 Gulf War. And in 1999, it earned the dubious distinction of being named the German Un Word of the Year after it was used by NATO forces to describe civilian casualties in the Kosovo war. And we shouldn't forget "extraordinary rendition", which entered the language after September 11. In a sane world it would mean a memorable performance of, say, a piano concerto. Somehow it became code for plucking terrorism suspects off foreign streets and flying them to black sites where the use of "enhanced interrogation" (torture) wasn't illegal. There's a host of war-related crimes against the language. "Ethnic cleansing" - in vogue during the Balkans conflict of the 1990s - seeks to sanitise genocide. "Pacification", which in military terms means eliminating an enemy. "Strategic withdrawal", a polite way of saying retreat. "Peace with honour" - Richard Nixon's favourite, which really means defeat with the dishonourable distinction of abandoning your erstwhile ally. The argument of whether or not Iran's nuclear ambitions were derailed is unlikely to last long. That's because it's only a matter of time before Donald Trump deploys another weapon of crass distraction, most likely in the dead of night from his Truth Social platform. Meanwhile, can we please obliterate the off-ramp? HAVE YOUR SAY: What are the buzz phrases and euphemisms which annoy you the most? Does military and diplomatic jargon hide ugly truths that ought to be out in the open? Are you irritated by the misuse of the word "decimated"? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - The head of a man allegedly murdered and dismembered by his reality TV contestant partner is missing and police are calling on the public to help give his family "a peaceful outcome". - The online far-right extremist network Terrorgram has been listed as a terrorist organisation, with members facing decades in jail if convicted of an offence. - Carn, spew, and goon are some of the colloquialisms added to the Australian edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. THEY SAID IT: "Euphemism is a euphemism for lying." - Bobbie Gentry YOU SAID IT: Garry wants companies to sign up to his user agreement, rather than the other way around. "Having spent close to 50 minutes waiting to see my doctor recently, I was presented with the account for payment on departure," writes Brian. "Not having been amused with the wait, I suggested that my hourly rate at the time was about equal to the presented bill, so how about we call it quits and I get to see the doctor for nothing. Needless to say, I was kindly reminded that I needed to pay for my consultation." Deb writes: "Last year, after being on hold for two hours and 40 minutes trying to report an internet outage to Telstra, I decided to cancel my account. Although the recorded options list did not have a 'cancel' option, some helpful Google advice suggested just saying 'cancel' anyway, and it worked! I was put through to a human within 10 minutes. Funny how companies suddenly improve customer service when there's a threat of losing business." "Wonderful words once again," writes Sue. "Except you have made one mistake: you are not 'The User'. You are 'The Used'." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Truth might be the first casualty in war but language falls soon after. For 12 long days we were assailed with an unfamiliar and ugly term, which spread faster than COVID's Omicron strain. As the world held its breath over the Israel-Iran missile exchange, "diplomatic off-ramp" became the jargon du jour. It was trotted out by experts and repeated ad nauseam by journalists. For some reason, it made my teeth hurt every time I heard it. What was wrong with, say, "peaceful compromise", "diplomatic solution" or "exit strategy"? In the language of diplomacy, off-ramp means finding a way out without losing face. "Obliterated" grabbed all the attention after the US dropped its big bombs on Iran's nuclear facilities. When I first heard it uttered by Donald Trump, like many others I thought, "Hang on. How do you know?" Curious, I poked my nose into the dictionary to see what the word actually meant. "To remove all signs of something, either by destroying or covering it completely," the Oxford Dictionary told me. Fordo was out of sight before it was bombed. What it looks like after the strike is anyone's guess. Yet here we were, days later, arguing the toss over President Trump's hyperbolic language. Weekend Fox News anchor turned Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth didn't help matters when defending Trump's imprecise language by saying the facility at Fordo has been "decimated". That suggests its capacity had been reduced by 10 per cent, a far cry from "obliterated". Confusion in the hunt for a linguistic off-ramp for the President. Of course, this isn't the first war in which language has suffered. During the Vietnam War, the term "collateral damage" came into military usage, deployed as a sanitised euphemism for "civilian casualties". "Collateral damage" became a popular buzzword during the 1991 Gulf War. And in 1999, it earned the dubious distinction of being named the German Un Word of the Year after it was used by NATO forces to describe civilian casualties in the Kosovo war. And we shouldn't forget "extraordinary rendition", which entered the language after September 11. In a sane world it would mean a memorable performance of, say, a piano concerto. Somehow it became code for plucking terrorism suspects off foreign streets and flying them to black sites where the use of "enhanced interrogation" (torture) wasn't illegal. There's a host of war-related crimes against the language. "Ethnic cleansing" - in vogue during the Balkans conflict of the 1990s - seeks to sanitise genocide. "Pacification", which in military terms means eliminating an enemy. "Strategic withdrawal", a polite way of saying retreat. "Peace with honour" - Richard Nixon's favourite, which really means defeat with the dishonourable distinction of abandoning your erstwhile ally. The argument of whether or not Iran's nuclear ambitions were derailed is unlikely to last long. That's because it's only a matter of time before Donald Trump deploys another weapon of crass distraction, most likely in the dead of night from his Truth Social platform. Meanwhile, can we please obliterate the off-ramp? HAVE YOUR SAY: What are the buzz phrases and euphemisms which annoy you the most? Does military and diplomatic jargon hide ugly truths that ought to be out in the open? Are you irritated by the misuse of the word "decimated"? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - The head of a man allegedly murdered and dismembered by his reality TV contestant partner is missing and police are calling on the public to help give his family "a peaceful outcome". - The online far-right extremist network Terrorgram has been listed as a terrorist organisation, with members facing decades in jail if convicted of an offence. - Carn, spew, and goon are some of the colloquialisms added to the Australian edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. THEY SAID IT: "Euphemism is a euphemism for lying." - Bobbie Gentry YOU SAID IT: Garry wants companies to sign up to his user agreement, rather than the other way around. "Having spent close to 50 minutes waiting to see my doctor recently, I was presented with the account for payment on departure," writes Brian. "Not having been amused with the wait, I suggested that my hourly rate at the time was about equal to the presented bill, so how about we call it quits and I get to see the doctor for nothing. Needless to say, I was kindly reminded that I needed to pay for my consultation." Deb writes: "Last year, after being on hold for two hours and 40 minutes trying to report an internet outage to Telstra, I decided to cancel my account. Although the recorded options list did not have a 'cancel' option, some helpful Google advice suggested just saying 'cancel' anyway, and it worked! I was put through to a human within 10 minutes. Funny how companies suddenly improve customer service when there's a threat of losing business." "Wonderful words once again," writes Sue. "Except you have made one mistake: you are not 'The User'. You are 'The Used'." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Truth might be the first casualty in war but language falls soon after. For 12 long days we were assailed with an unfamiliar and ugly term, which spread faster than COVID's Omicron strain. As the world held its breath over the Israel-Iran missile exchange, "diplomatic off-ramp" became the jargon du jour. It was trotted out by experts and repeated ad nauseam by journalists. For some reason, it made my teeth hurt every time I heard it. What was wrong with, say, "peaceful compromise", "diplomatic solution" or "exit strategy"? In the language of diplomacy, off-ramp means finding a way out without losing face. "Obliterated" grabbed all the attention after the US dropped its big bombs on Iran's nuclear facilities. When I first heard it uttered by Donald Trump, like many others I thought, "Hang on. How do you know?" Curious, I poked my nose into the dictionary to see what the word actually meant. "To remove all signs of something, either by destroying or covering it completely," the Oxford Dictionary told me. Fordo was out of sight before it was bombed. What it looks like after the strike is anyone's guess. Yet here we were, days later, arguing the toss over President Trump's hyperbolic language. Weekend Fox News anchor turned Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth didn't help matters when defending Trump's imprecise language by saying the facility at Fordo has been "decimated". That suggests its capacity had been reduced by 10 per cent, a far cry from "obliterated". Confusion in the hunt for a linguistic off-ramp for the President. Of course, this isn't the first war in which language has suffered. During the Vietnam War, the term "collateral damage" came into military usage, deployed as a sanitised euphemism for "civilian casualties". "Collateral damage" became a popular buzzword during the 1991 Gulf War. And in 1999, it earned the dubious distinction of being named the German Un Word of the Year after it was used by NATO forces to describe civilian casualties in the Kosovo war. And we shouldn't forget "extraordinary rendition", which entered the language after September 11. In a sane world it would mean a memorable performance of, say, a piano concerto. Somehow it became code for plucking terrorism suspects off foreign streets and flying them to black sites where the use of "enhanced interrogation" (torture) wasn't illegal. There's a host of war-related crimes against the language. "Ethnic cleansing" - in vogue during the Balkans conflict of the 1990s - seeks to sanitise genocide. "Pacification", which in military terms means eliminating an enemy. "Strategic withdrawal", a polite way of saying retreat. "Peace with honour" - Richard Nixon's favourite, which really means defeat with the dishonourable distinction of abandoning your erstwhile ally. The argument of whether or not Iran's nuclear ambitions were derailed is unlikely to last long. That's because it's only a matter of time before Donald Trump deploys another weapon of crass distraction, most likely in the dead of night from his Truth Social platform. Meanwhile, can we please obliterate the off-ramp? HAVE YOUR SAY: What are the buzz phrases and euphemisms which annoy you the most? Does military and diplomatic jargon hide ugly truths that ought to be out in the open? Are you irritated by the misuse of the word "decimated"? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - The head of a man allegedly murdered and dismembered by his reality TV contestant partner is missing and police are calling on the public to help give his family "a peaceful outcome". - The online far-right extremist network Terrorgram has been listed as a terrorist organisation, with members facing decades in jail if convicted of an offence. - Carn, spew, and goon are some of the colloquialisms added to the Australian edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. THEY SAID IT: "Euphemism is a euphemism for lying." - Bobbie Gentry YOU SAID IT: Garry wants companies to sign up to his user agreement, rather than the other way around. "Having spent close to 50 minutes waiting to see my doctor recently, I was presented with the account for payment on departure," writes Brian. "Not having been amused with the wait, I suggested that my hourly rate at the time was about equal to the presented bill, so how about we call it quits and I get to see the doctor for nothing. Needless to say, I was kindly reminded that I needed to pay for my consultation." Deb writes: "Last year, after being on hold for two hours and 40 minutes trying to report an internet outage to Telstra, I decided to cancel my account. Although the recorded options list did not have a 'cancel' option, some helpful Google advice suggested just saying 'cancel' anyway, and it worked! I was put through to a human within 10 minutes. Funny how companies suddenly improve customer service when there's a threat of losing business." "Wonderful words once again," writes Sue. "Except you have made one mistake: you are not 'The User'. You are 'The Used'." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Truth might be the first casualty in war but language falls soon after. For 12 long days we were assailed with an unfamiliar and ugly term, which spread faster than COVID's Omicron strain. As the world held its breath over the Israel-Iran missile exchange, "diplomatic off-ramp" became the jargon du jour. It was trotted out by experts and repeated ad nauseam by journalists. For some reason, it made my teeth hurt every time I heard it. What was wrong with, say, "peaceful compromise", "diplomatic solution" or "exit strategy"? In the language of diplomacy, off-ramp means finding a way out without losing face. "Obliterated" grabbed all the attention after the US dropped its big bombs on Iran's nuclear facilities. When I first heard it uttered by Donald Trump, like many others I thought, "Hang on. How do you know?" Curious, I poked my nose into the dictionary to see what the word actually meant. "To remove all signs of something, either by destroying or covering it completely," the Oxford Dictionary told me. Fordo was out of sight before it was bombed. What it looks like after the strike is anyone's guess. Yet here we were, days later, arguing the toss over President Trump's hyperbolic language. Weekend Fox News anchor turned Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth didn't help matters when defending Trump's imprecise language by saying the facility at Fordo has been "decimated". That suggests its capacity had been reduced by 10 per cent, a far cry from "obliterated". Confusion in the hunt for a linguistic off-ramp for the President. Of course, this isn't the first war in which language has suffered. During the Vietnam War, the term "collateral damage" came into military usage, deployed as a sanitised euphemism for "civilian casualties". "Collateral damage" became a popular buzzword during the 1991 Gulf War. And in 1999, it earned the dubious distinction of being named the German Un Word of the Year after it was used by NATO forces to describe civilian casualties in the Kosovo war. And we shouldn't forget "extraordinary rendition", which entered the language after September 11. In a sane world it would mean a memorable performance of, say, a piano concerto. Somehow it became code for plucking terrorism suspects off foreign streets and flying them to black sites where the use of "enhanced interrogation" (torture) wasn't illegal. There's a host of war-related crimes against the language. "Ethnic cleansing" - in vogue during the Balkans conflict of the 1990s - seeks to sanitise genocide. "Pacification", which in military terms means eliminating an enemy. "Strategic withdrawal", a polite way of saying retreat. "Peace with honour" - Richard Nixon's favourite, which really means defeat with the dishonourable distinction of abandoning your erstwhile ally. The argument of whether or not Iran's nuclear ambitions were derailed is unlikely to last long. That's because it's only a matter of time before Donald Trump deploys another weapon of crass distraction, most likely in the dead of night from his Truth Social platform. Meanwhile, can we please obliterate the off-ramp? HAVE YOUR SAY: What are the buzz phrases and euphemisms which annoy you the most? Does military and diplomatic jargon hide ugly truths that ought to be out in the open? Are you irritated by the misuse of the word "decimated"? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - The head of a man allegedly murdered and dismembered by his reality TV contestant partner is missing and police are calling on the public to help give his family "a peaceful outcome". - The online far-right extremist network Terrorgram has been listed as a terrorist organisation, with members facing decades in jail if convicted of an offence. - Carn, spew, and goon are some of the colloquialisms added to the Australian edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. THEY SAID IT: "Euphemism is a euphemism for lying." - Bobbie Gentry YOU SAID IT: Garry wants companies to sign up to his user agreement, rather than the other way around. "Having spent close to 50 minutes waiting to see my doctor recently, I was presented with the account for payment on departure," writes Brian. "Not having been amused with the wait, I suggested that my hourly rate at the time was about equal to the presented bill, so how about we call it quits and I get to see the doctor for nothing. Needless to say, I was kindly reminded that I needed to pay for my consultation." Deb writes: "Last year, after being on hold for two hours and 40 minutes trying to report an internet outage to Telstra, I decided to cancel my account. Although the recorded options list did not have a 'cancel' option, some helpful Google advice suggested just saying 'cancel' anyway, and it worked! I was put through to a human within 10 minutes. Funny how companies suddenly improve customer service when there's a threat of losing business." "Wonderful words once again," writes Sue. "Except you have made one mistake: you are not 'The User'. You are 'The Used'."
Sky News AU
an hour ago
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‘He doesn't like Rudd': Kevin Rudd deemed ‘biggest issue' blocking Anthony Albanese meeting with President Donald Trump
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Sky News AU
4 hours ago
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New satellite imagery shows ongoing activity at Iran's Fordow nuclear complex after US airstrikes
Recent satellite imagery has revealed ongoing activity and fresh evidence of significant damage to tunnels and access roads at Iran's underground Fordow uranium enrichment site caused by last week's airstrikes. The facility was targeted by Israeli forces on June 23, one day after the U.S. carried out strikes using bunker-buster bombs. The new high-resolution satellite imagery, collected by Maxar Technologies, shows an excavator and several personnel positioned immediately next to the northern shaft on the ridge above the underground complex. The crane also appears to be operating at the entrance to the shaft, where several additional vehicles are seen below the ridge, parked along the access path that was built to access the site. Maxar's photos also reveal the complete destruction of a facility north of the site, surrounded by more craters and scattered dust. One more crater and visible burn marks are seen on a western access route. Analysts believe the primary goal of the strikes was to hinder access to the sites and complicate repair efforts. Both the United States and Israel have stated that these military actions were aimed at hindering Iran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran has rejected these accusations, maintaining that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful. The Fordow site, which is buried within a mountain near Qom, about 60 miles southwest of Tehran, was bombed by the U.S. on June 22, resulting in six prominent craters and a noticeable spread of grey debris, according to satellite photos. On the following day, Israel confirmed it had conducted a second strike on Fordow, specifically targeting the roads leading to the facility. Iranian officials later acknowledged this attack. Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters during a Pentagon briefing last Sunday that while all three Iranian nuclear sites targeted in the strike "sustained extremely severe damage and destruction," the full damage would take time to assess. The latest strike on Fordow comes as the Israel Defense Forces said Israel also launched a series of strikes targeting the notorious Evin prison and several Iranian military command centers in an "ongoing effort to degrade the Iranian regime's military capabilities." Originally published as New satellite imagery shows ongoing activity at Iran's Fordow nuclear complex after US airstrikes
