The Daily Populous Sunday June 29th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by news.sky.com and submitted by MotherDucker95

The Israeli embassy has said it's "deeply disturbed" by chants of "death to the IDF" at Glastonbury - as police also investigate the incident.

Video shows one of the members of Bob Vylan shouting the slogan into the mic and some of the crowd joining in.

The duo were performing ahead of a performance by Kneecap, the Irish act who the prime minister said should be ditched from the line-up.

"The Embassy of Israel in the United Kingdom is deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival," a statement said.

It said slogans like Saturday's chant "advocate for the dismantling of the State of Israel".

Image: The BBC said some of the comments by Bob Vylan were 'deeply offensive'. Pic: PA

The post on X 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."

Avon and Somerset Police said they are looking at whether a criminal offence was committed by the group, whose X bio describes them as a "punk/rap/alt thing".

"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the force said in a post on social media.

Bob Vylan also performed in front of a screen quoting a claim that Israel's actions in Gaza amount to genocide.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has spoken to BBC boss Tim Davie for an "urgent explanation" about what due diligence it carried out into Bob Vylan.

Speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sunday on behalf of the government, Health Secretary Wes Streeting described the chant as "appalling" and a "shameless publicity stunt".

"The fact that we saw that chant at a music festival - when there were Israelis at a similar music festival who were kidnapped, murdered, raped, and in some cases still held captive," he said in reference to the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack at the Nova music festival.

He added that while "there's no justification for inciting violence against Israelis… the way in which Israel's conducting this war has made it extremely difficult for Israel's allies around the world to stand by and justify".

"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," he told Phillips.

Festival organisers and the BBC facing more questions Gemma Peplow Culture and entertainment reporter @gemmapeplow Bob Vylan, a punk-rap duo known for their politically charged lyrics taking on racism, fascism, police brutality, toxic masculinity, inequality and more, performed on the festival's third biggest stage, West Holts, with a capacity of about 30,000. They played to their own fans but no doubt thousands who had turned out to secure their place for the controversial Irish-language rappers Kneecap who followed. After the Bob Vylan performance was aired live, clips quickly flooded social media - shared by those supporting the band and condemning them. "The BBC didn't cover Kneecap's set at Glastonbury Festival over Free Palestine chants, so Bob Vylan, who BBC covered, stepped in," posted the Celebrities4Palestine account alongside a clip on Instagram, also shared by Bob Vylan. The IDF comments on stage may well have been made regardless. Or did Kneecap's "cancelling" by the BBC, as some people saw it, encourage other acts to speak out even more? With its history of activism, Glastonbury has always championed free speech. But it seems Bob Vylan's set may have pushed things too far. It's fair to say that here at Glastonbury, for most of the 200,000 people on site this weekend, it is still all about the music. The majority did not see these sets and many are not even aware of the criticism outside Worthy Farm. Today is the final day of artist performances, with acts including Olivia Rodrigo, Rod Stewart and the Prodigy on the bill. But instead of the magic of the most famous festival in the world, both organisers and the broadcaster are now facing more questions about Bob Vylan, as criticism mounts.

A BBC spokesperson 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. We have no plans to make the performance available on demand."

Image: Thousands watched the set on the West Holts stage. Pic: PA

A government spokesman said: "We strongly condemn the threatening comments made by Bob Vylan at Glastonbury.

"The culture secretary has spoken to the BBC director general to seek an urgent explanation about what due diligence it carried out ahead of the Bob Vylan performance, and welcomes the decision not to re-broadcast it on BBC iPlayer."

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Tory leader Kemi Badenoch re-posted a clip of the incident and called it "grotesque".

"Violence against Jews isn't edgy. The West is playing with fire if we allow this sort of behaviour to go unchecked," she said on X.

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Kneecap rapper tells Glastonbury he's a 'free man'

Lewis Capaldi plays 'secret' set at Glastonbury

A statement from Glastonbury Festival said it "does not condone hate speech or incitement to violence of any kind from its performers".

Image: Kneecap also performed - with the BBC not showing them live. Pic: Reuters

Irish group Kneecap followed Bob Vylan - with the broadcaster not carrying their performance live amid concern over what they might do or say.

However, it's understood their show will be made available on demand after a review.

One of its members, Liam Og O hAnnaidh, was charged with a terror offence in May after being accused of displaying a flag in support of proscribed terror group Hezbollah at a gig.

Image: There were Palestinian flags among the crowd for Kneecap's show. Pic: Reuters

Bandmate Naoise O Caireallain told the packed Glastonbury crowd they should "start a riot outside the courts", before clarifying: "No riots just love and support, and support for Palestine."

O hAnnaidh - also known as Mo Chara - wore a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf for Saturday's set and told fans he was a "free man".

ToLiveInIt on June 29th, 2025 at 09:03 UTC »

This Israeli embassy?

“Between the sea and the Jordan River, there needs to be one state, only the state of Israel.” -Israeli Ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely

BowsettesBottomBitch on June 29th, 2025 at 07:21 UTC »

> The post on X 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." (emphasis mine)

Oh brother

ProximatePenguin on June 29th, 2025 at 01:38 UTC »

Oh man I absolutely saw this shit coming