British police say they are reviewing comments made on stage by rap punk duo Bob Vylan and hip hop trio Kneecap at this year’s Glastonbury Festival.
Rapper Bobby Vylan took to the festival’s third-biggest West Holts Stage on Saturday shouting “Free, free Palestine,” before leading crowds to chants against the Israeli military.
Video showed the rapper shouting into the mic, “Alright, but have you heard this one though? Death, death to the IDF (Israel Defense Forces).”
The artist also performed in front of a screen that displayed a message which read: “United Nations have called it a genocide. The BBC calls it a ‘conflict,’” referring to the UK’s public broadcaster that has been showing the festival live.
The Israeli Embassy in the UK said it was “deeply disturbed” by what it called “inflammatory and hateful” rhetoric at the festival.
It said that when chants such as “Death to the IDF” are said in front of tens of thousands of festivalgoers, “it raises serious concerns about the normalisation of extremist language and the glorification of violence.”
“We call on Glastonbury Festival organisers, artists, and public leaders in the UK to denounce this rhetoric and reject of all forms of hatred,” it added.
Glastonbury Festival said in a statement that was “appalled” by Vylan’s remarks.
Ahead of the five-day music festival, all eyes were on Irish-language hip hop trio Kneecap after band member Liam O’Hanna – who performs under the stage name Mo Chara – was charged last month with a terrorism offense following an investigation by London’s Metropolitan Police.
Credit: cnn.com
