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What began as a celebration of music and unity became a global stage for antisemitic incitement — amplified before tens of thousands and broadcast across the world.
At Glastonbury Festival’s West Holts Stage on Saturday, before an estimated 30,000 attendees, British rapper Bob Vylan led the crowd in chants of “Death to the IDF” — an explicit call to kill Israeli soldiers — and “Free Palestine,” a slogan that has increasingly been weaponized as a rallying cry for violence against Jews around the world. He then escalated further, shouting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine must be, will be free” — a genocidal demand for the destruction the State of Israel.
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Vylan followed this incitement with a profanity-laced tirade against a Jewish former record label executive, saying, “We’ve done it all == from working in bars to working for f***ing Zionists.” The BBC streamed the performance live, prompting national outrage and demands for accountability.
Immediately afterward, Irish-language hip-hop group Kneecap took the stage — fronted by Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh (stage name Mo Chara), who is currently facing charges under the UK Terrorism Act for allegedly waving the flag of Hezbollah — a proscribed terrorist organization in the United Kingdom — and shouting “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah” during a 2023 concert in London. Ó hAnnaidh denies the charges and is currently out on unconditional bail pending a court hearing in August.
Rather than avoid controversy, Kneecap leaned into it. Their set opened with a montage of news clips referencing their legal troubles and public backlash. Ó hAnnaidh, wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh, told the crowd: “The Prime Minister of your country, not mine, said he didn’t want us to play — so f*** Keir Starmer.”
He then declared: “There’s no f***ing hiding it — Israel are war criminals.”
The crowd, waving hundreds of Palestinian flags, erupted in applause. At one point, the band led chants of “Free Palestine,” “Free Mo Chara,” and “F*** Keir Starmer.” The area had to be closed off due to overcrowding.
In one of the most disturbing moments, Ó hAnnaidh gave a shoutout to Palestine Action — an anti-Israel group that UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced last week would be banned under the Terrorism Act of 2000. Fellow band member DJ Próvaí wore a t-shirt promoting the group during the performance. Palestine Action is under criminal investigation after activists broke into a British Royal Air Force base and vandalized military aircraft in protest of UK-Israel defense ties.
While Kneecap’s set was not livestreamed, the BBC had initially planned to make it available on demand. After public backlash and intervention from UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, those plans were scrapped. The BBC stated the performance failed to meet editorial standards and contained “very strong and discriminatory language.”
The Israeli Embassy in London condemned the festival in a scathing statement: “Chants such as ‘Death to the IDF’ and ‘From the river to the sea’ are slogans that advocate for the dismantling of the State of Israel and implicitly call for the elimination of Jewish self-determination… When such messages are delivered before tens of thousands of festivalgoers and met with applause, it raises serious concerns about the normalization of extremist language and the glorification of violence.”
Former BBC Television Director Danny Cohen added: “That something like this might happen could easily have been foreseen by the BBC… Allowing it to be broadcast is a very serious failure, and further evidence that BBC management are blind to their responsibility to Britain’s Jewish community.”
Kneecap — which also includes members Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí — has claimed that their lyrics are satire and that they are simply “playing characters” on stage. But critics point to their history of inflammatory rhetoric — including footage of the band calling for the deaths of British MPs — as evidence that their conduct is far more sinister than performance art.
Law enforcement has taken notice. Avon and Somerset Police confirmed they were reviewing video footage and public statements by both Bob Vylan and Kneecap to determine whether criminal offenses were committed.
Festival organizers insisted that Glastonbury “remains a platform for many, many artists from all over the world… everyone is welcome here.” Yet in response to the controversy, they issued only a brief statement that the festival “does not condone hate speech or incitement to violence of any kind.”
But the decision to give a stage to performers facing terror charges — who praised a soon-to-be banned extremist group and promoted slogans synonymous with antisemitism and the violent destruction of the world’s only Jewish state — reveals more than negligence. It reflects the growing normalization of antisemitic incitement repackaged as political expression.
Even amid the hate, some attendees sought to reclaim the space. Flags were raised honoring the victims of Hamas’ October 7 massacre, including banners referencing the Nova music festival, where 364 young people were slaughtered. One flag, black with a yellow ribbon, read: “We Will Dance Again.”
🎗️The yellow ribbon for the hostages and the Nova flag for those murdered there are flying high at Glastonbury. Bless the soul who bravely stood against the tide and proudly made everyone see.
h/t @HertfordshireI pic.twitter.com/WzQHEtMgNa
— Heidi Bachram 🎗️ (@HeidiBachram) June 27, 2025
But those tributes were drowned out by louder voices — calling not for peace or justice, but for death, division, and the demonization of Jews.
This was not protest. It wasn’t free speech. And it certainly wasn’t art.
It was incitement — delivered from the stage, applauded by the crowd, and at times broadcast to millions.
“Death to the IDF” isn’t a slogan. It’s a call to kill Jews in uniform. And when you give that call a stage, a microphone, and an audience, you’re not promoting justice — you’re inciting bloodshed.
If this doesn’t cross the line, then there is no line left.
