LONDON (AP) — Rap-punk duo Bob Vylan on Tuesday rejected claims of antisemitism over onstage feedback on the Glastonbury Competition that triggered a police investigation and sparked criticism from politicians, the BBC and competition organizers.
The band stated in a press release that it was being “targeted for speaking up” in regards to the battle in Gaza.
Police are investigating whether or not against the law was dedicated when frontman Bob Vylan led the viewers in chants of “Death to the IDF” — the Israel Protection Forces — throughout the band’s set on the competition in southwest England on Saturday.
The British authorities referred to as the chants “appalling hate speech” and the BBC stated it regretted livestreaming the “antisemitic sentiments.” U.S. authorities revoked the musicians’ visas.
Israel’s battle in opposition to Hamas in Gaza has infected tensions all over the world, triggering pro-Palestinian protests in lots of capitals and on faculty campuses. Israel and a few supporters have described the protests as antisemitic, whereas critics say Israel makes use of such descriptions to silence opponents.
In a press release on Instagram, Bob Vylan stated: “We are not for the death of jews, arabs or any other race or group of people. We are for the dismantling of a violent military machine. … A machine that has destroyed much of Gaza.”
Alleging that “we are a distraction from the story,” the duo added: “We are being targeted for speaking up.”
The BBC is beneath strain to clarify why it didn’t lower the feed of the efficiency after the anti-IDF chants. Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis stated “the airing of vile Jew-hatred” by the BBC was a second of “national shame.”
“It should trouble all decent people that now, one need only couch their outright incitement to violence and hatred as edgy political commentary, for ordinary people to not only fail to see it for what it is, but also to cheer it, chant it and celebrate it,” he wrote on X.
Avon and Somerset Police stated it’s investigating Bob Vylan’s efficiency, together with that by Irish-language hip-hop trio Kneecap, whose pro-Palestinian stance has additionally attracted controversy. Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh has been charged beneath Britain’s Terrorism Act with supporting a proscribed group for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a live performance in London final 12 months.
For the reason that battle started in October 2023 with a Hamas assault on Israel that killed some 1,200 folks, Israel has killed greater than 56,000 folks in Gaza, in response to the well being ministry within the Hamas-run territory.
