US revokes visas for musicians after band leads chants against Israeli military
The State Department has revoked visas for a London-based punk duo set to tour the U.S. in October after the band led a crowd of festival-goers in England in calling for the death of the Israeli military over the weekend.
Deputy State Secretary Christopher Landau confirmed Monday that the State Department had revoked U.S. visas for members of the band Bob Vylan over comments the group made at the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts.
'The @StateDept has revoked the US visas for the members of the Bob Vylan band in light of their hateful tirade at Glastonbury, including leading the crowd in death chants. Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,' Landau posted on X.
The State Department's decision came after Bobby Vylan, lead singer of the duo, led more than 200,000 attendees at the festival in chants of 'free, free Palestine' and 'death, death to the IDF' — the Israel Defense Forces.
The group has 20 performance dates planned for cities in the U.S. starting in October. It is unclear whether the band will still be able to perform this fall.
The legendary music festival in the southwest of England was livestreamed across the globe, and Vylan — real name Pascal Robinson-Foster — quickly received both backlash and support for his comments.
The BBC on Monday told POLITICO it should have pulled a livestream of the duo, condemning the chants as antisemitism.
Warren Stephens, the U.S. ambassador to the U.K., also called the chants 'antisemitic' and a 'disgrace.'
'There should be no place for this hateful incitement or tolerance of antisemitism in the U.K.,' he added.
The duo is also no longer listed on their talent agency's website, United Talent Agency.
But Robinson-Foster has defended his performance.
In a post on Instagram, the musician said that he has been inundated with messages of both support and hate but that 'it is incredibly important that we encourage and inspire future generations to pick up the torch that was passed to us.'
'Let us display to them loudly and visibly the right thing to do when we want and need change. Let them see us marching in the streets, campaigning on ground level, organising online and shouting about it on any and every stage that we are offered,' he said.
He added in his caption, 'I said what I said.'
The duo was not the only performers at the music festival to share support for Palestinians in the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel. Irish rap group Kneecap also led the crowd in chants of 'free Palestine' at the festival. Their performance was not livestreamed.
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