Glastonbury organizer Emily Eavis has condemned anti-IDF chants made by performer Bob Vylan on the U.Okay. music competition.
The rap duo have come underneath hearth for encouraging audiences on the occasion in Somerset, England, to affix in on shouting “loss of life to the IDF” [the Israel Defense Forces] throughout their set on the West Holts stage on Saturday.
Eavis, the youngest daughter of Glastonbury Competition co-founder Michael Eavis, posted to Instagram on Sunday to say that the group are “appalled” by the band’s conduct.
“Their chants very a lot crossed a line and we’re urgently reminding everybody concerned within the manufacturing of the Competition that there isn’t any place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence,” she wrote.
Eavis continued: “As a competition, we stand in opposition to all types of battle and terrorism — we’ll at all times consider in — and actively marketing campaign for — hope, unity, peace and love”, including a performer’s feedback “ought to by no means be seen as a tacit endorsement of their opinions and beliefs… With nearly 4,000 performances at Glastonbury 2025, there’ll inevitably be artists and audio system showing on our phases whose views we don’t share.”
Bob Vylan aren’t the one act to attract consideration to the battle in Gaza. On the identical stage on Saturday, Irish rap trio Kneecap voiced their pro-Palestine views and used the platform to criticize the U.Okay. and U.S. governments, in addition to the U.S. media.
They thanked the Eavis household for permitting them to play regardless of pushback from U.Okay. politicians, together with Tradition Secretary Lisa Nandy. “An enormous thanks to the Eavis household,” Kneecap stated. “The stress that that household was underneath they usually stood robust. Honest play to them.”
In Might, the Met Police stated it might examine after on-line movies confirmed the band calling for the loss of life of British parliament ministers, in addition to chanting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah.” It’s unlawful within the U.Okay. to specific help for Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim political and army group in Lebanon, as it’s thought-about a terrorist group in Britain.
Glastonbury Competition runs Jun. 25-29.