‘No excuse': British PM Starmer, Glastonbury slam ‘death to' Israeli military chant at performances
During their show on June 29, the duo chanted 'Death, death, to the IDF' in reference to the Israel Defence Forces, the formal name of the Israeli military. PHOTO: AFP
GLASTONBURY, England - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Glastonbury organisers said on June 29 they were appalled by on-stage chanting against the Israeli military during a performance at the festival by Punk-rap duo Bob Vylan.
During their show on June 29, the duo chanted 'Death, death, to the IDF' in reference to the Israel Defence Forces, the formal name of the Israeli military.
Police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation, but did not name Bob Vylan or Irish rap band Kneecap, who appeared on the same stage and also criticised Israel.
'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 June 29.
'There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech,' Mr Starmer said in a statement. 'I said that Kneecap should not be given a platform and that goes for any other performers making threats or inciting violence.'
The festival organisers 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 June 29.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain condemned the 'inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed' on stage.
Bob Vylan's band members did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr Starmer also criticised British broadcaster the BBC, which transmits much of the festival live, for showing the performance. 'The BBC needs to explain how these scenes came to be broadcast,' he said.
The BBC said some of the comments made during Bob Vylan's set 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 said.
'We have no plans to make the performance available on demand.'
Kneecap next on stage
Bob Vylan's 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 Mr Starmer and also taking aim at Israel.
During the show, frontman Liam Og O 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 Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert. He has denied the charge.
Mr Starmer had said it was 'not appropriate' for Kneecap to play at the festival.
A senior member of his government, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, earlier on June 29 criticised the chants by Bob Vylan but added 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',' Mr Streeting told Sky News.
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 Mr Sarkar, a contributing editor to Novara Media, a leftist media organisation. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Trump's administration finds Harvard violated students' civil rights, WSJ reports
FILE PHOTO: A view of the Business School campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., April 15, 2025. REUTERS/Faith Ninivaggi/File Photo U.S. President Donald Trump's administration informed Harvard University that its investigation found the university violated federal civil-rights law over its treatment of Jewish and Israeli students, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. "Failure to institute adequate changes immediately will result in the loss of all federal financial resources and continue to affect Harvard's relationship with the federal government," the report quoted a letter sent to Harvard President Alan Garber on Monday and viewed by the Journal. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. Trump has said he is trying to force change at Harvard - and other top-level universities across the U.S. - because in his view they have been captured by leftist "woke" thought and become bastions of antisemitism. The administration warned Harvard that failure to institute adequate changes immediately will result in the loss of all federal financial resources, the Wall Street Journal reported. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Lebanon seeks guarantees from Israel as US demands Hezbollah disarmed
Lebanese leaders have repeatedly vowed a state monopoly on bearing arms while demanding Israel comply with a ceasfire. PHOTO: REUTERS Lebanon seeks guarantees that Israeli forces fully withdraw from Lebanese territory in response to a US demand that Beirut formally commit to disarming militant group Hezbollah, a Lebanese official said on J une 30 . Lebanese leaders who took office in the aftermath of a war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2024 have repeatedly vowed a state monopoly on bearing arms while demanding Israel comply with a November ceasefire that ended the fighting. The Lebanese government official told AFP that in a recent visit, US envoy Tom Barrack had presented the demand for Beirut to officially commit to start disarming the Iran-backed group as stipulated in the November agreement, along with a full Israeli withdrawal. President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and parliament speaker Nabih Berri – who is a key Hezbollah ally – 'are preparing a response', said the official on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to brief the media. With Mr Barrack, Washington's ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria, expected back in Beirut by mid-July, the Lebanese leaders 'will demand a halt to Israeli violations of the ceasefire, Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, the release of prisoners (detained during the war) and the demarcation of the border', said the official. According to the official, Mr Barrack in his June 19 visit also asked that Lebanon work on securing its border with Syria and pursue economic reforms demanded by international creditors. Mr Aoun and Mr Salam took power early in 2025 as the balance of power shifted following the Israel-Hezbollah war that left the militant group – long an important player in Lebanese politics – severely weakened. Lebanese authorities say they have been dismantling Iran-backed Hezbollah's military infrastructure in the south, near the Israeli border. Israel has continued to strike Lebanon despite the November ceasefire, claiming to hit Hezbollah targets and accusing Beirut of not doing enough to disarm the group. According to the ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah is to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, some 30km from the Israeli frontier. Israel was to withdraw its troops from all of Lebanon, but has kept them deployed in five points it deemed strategic. Meanwhile Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday that his government was 'interested' in normalising ties with Lebanon and neighbouring Syria, which both do not recognise Israel and have been technically at war with it since its creation in 1948. There was no comment from Beirut or Damascus, but the Lebanese government official told AFP normalisation was not among the US envoy's demands. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Cayman Islands' same-sex civil partnership law upheld by UK court
LONDON - A Cayman Islands' law legalising same-sex civil partnerships was upheld by a London court on Monday, after a long-running legal battle, in a ruling hailed by campaigners. London's Privy Council, the final court of appeal for the British overseas territory, rejected an appeal that had argued the Caribbean islands' governor had no right to enact the bill, after lawmakers had rejected similar legislation. The change in the law came in 2020 following a landmark court case brought by a lesbian couple - Caymanian lawyer Chantelle Day and her partner Vickie Bodden Bush, a nurse - after they were refused permission to marry. While the Cayman Islands' courts ultimately ruled that the right to marry extended only to opposite-sex couples, they said that same-sex couples were entitled to legal protection "which is functionally equivalent to marriage". A bill was brought to parliament to put that protection into law, but lawmakers rejected it in July 2020 by nine votes to eight. Then-governor Martyn Roper then enacted the Civil Partnership Law that September, allowing same-sex civil partnerships, saying the action had to be taken to uphold human rights. Kattina Anglin, a lawyer based in the Cayman Islands, argued that Roper did not have the power to introduce the law under the Cayman Islands' constitution. But her case was rejected by the islands' courts and her final appeal was dismissed by the Privy Council. Campaign group Colours Caribbean, which backs the right for same-sex unions, said the ruling "brings much needed clarity that our Bill of Rights is enforceable regardless of the will of a majority in Parliament". Anglin's lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal working hours. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
