Avon and Somerset Police probe controversial performances after bands Kneecap and Bob Vylan ignite outrage, while Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel condemns chants linked to the brutal massacre of 378 Israelis at a music festival on October 7.
Crowds watch Kneecap performing during the Glastonbury Festival (Image: PA)
The Glastonbury music festival faced backlash last night after two acts called for “Death to the Israel Defence Force” and “Free Palestine” on stage. Last night, Avon and Somerset Police confirmed it was “assessing” video footage of the performances to determine whether a crime had been committed.
This followed calls from the association UK Lawyers for Israel, which claimed the bands had breached Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 “because they used threatening or abusive words or behaviour within the hearing or sight of people likely to be caused harassment, alarm, or distress by it.”
The performances were condemned in Jerusalem last night, with Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel caled for a full police investigation, adding: “Twenty months ago, in the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, 378 Israelis were butchered at a music festival on October 7.
“Today’s spectacle at Glastonbury is truly disgusting. They seem to forget that 50 hostages remain in Hamas hell in Gaza. This must be investigated by police.”
The appearance of pro-Palestinian Northern Irish rappers Kneecap had already sparked controversy after member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, was charged with a terror offence for allegedly displaying a flag in support of the proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah last year.
Several politicians had called for Kneecap to be removed from the line-up, and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said their performance would not be “appropriate.”But organisers defended the decision, with organiser Emily Eavis saying: “We remain a platform for many, many artists from all over the world, and, you know, everyone is welcome here.”
This prompted defiance from the group, who said: “The Prime Minister of your country, not mine, said he didn’t want us to play, so f*** Keir Starmer.” They then declared, “Free Palestine.”
Minutes before their performance, hip-hop duo Bob Vylan had repeatedly shouted: “Death to the IDF” – a reference to the Israel Defence Forces.
The chant was taken up by the crowd, many of whom were waving Palestinian flags.
Bob Vylan repeated “Death to the IDF” (Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)
Site of the Nova music festival where 376 Israelis were murdered by Hamas (Image: Marco Giannangali)
Israeli deputy defence minster Sharren Haskel (Image: Sharren Haskel )
Last night, Stop the Hate, an Israeli-Iranian activist group, called for an investigation into whether the BBC had broken impartiality rules by broadcasting the event.
“To call for death to the IDF is to call for the death of every single Israeli – we are all obliged to serve, no matter what our private political views may be.
Glastonbury chose to become a political festival, and the BBC is abetting the spread of hate – why is my licence fee money being spent to fund this?”
A Reform UK spokesman said: “This inflammatory language only seems to be used one way at Glastonbury, and that’s towards Israelis. From these comments to Kneecap performing, it’s becoming less a music festival and more of a socialist action day.”
In Jerusalem, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel went further:
“Chants like ‘Death to the IDF’ and ‘From the river to the sea’ aren’t calls for peace – they’re calls for the destruction of Israel and the erasure of Jewish self-determination. That’s not protest – it’s hate.
But because the target is Israel – let’s be honest, because it’s Jews – it’s tolerated, even live-streamed by the BBC. This is not activism. It’s antisemitic incitement, plain and simple.
“Has a hate crime been committed at Glastonbury? Will the police be investigating? Had any other minority been targeted by a performer at Glastonbury in the way we have seen today, there would be an investigation.”
Israel’s embassy in London said it was “deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage.”
A spokesman added: “When such messages are delivered before tens of thousands of festivalgoers and met with applause, it raises serious concerns about the normalisation of extremist language and the glorification of violence.”
Army veteran and commentator Andrew Fox said: “It is an embarrassing irony. Spoiled, clueless Brits spending £400 a ticket to chant for the deaths of soldiers who have spent 20 months in an existential fight for their country’s survival in a war – a war that started with the slaughter of innocent festivalgoers.
“After 20 months, the IDF stands victorious over Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, all of whom would murder Glastonbury festivalgoers too, without a second thought.”
