Bob Vylan, Kneecap’s Glastonbury’s performance survey
British police have launched a criminal investigation into the performance of Bob Billan and Irish rap band Kneecap at the Glastonbury Music Festival.
The British Minister of Culture condemned Punkrap’s duo Bob Bilan in a statement to Parliament on June 30.
“Let me make it clear that this government does not tolerate anti-Semitism,” Lisa Nandi, UK Secretary of Culture, Media and Sports, told the House of Representatives from the workers’ dispatch box. “It has no place in our society. It is poison and cancer, and it must be rooted in. We will be obsessed with our work to do so.”
“A further investigation is needed and criminal investigations are currently underway,” Avon and Somerset police said in a June 30 statement.
Bob Bilan led the chant “Death, Death, IDF” referring to the Israeli Defense Forces, the official name of the Israeli military. Kneecap frontman Liam Ógó Hannaidh led a chant to Kier’s starmer Labor Prime Minister, accusing Israel of committing war crimes, saying he “doesn’t hide it.”
The US State Department revoked the visa for members of Bob Bilan on June 30, citing the performance.
Culture Secretary Requests a response from the BBC, and Health Secretary tells Israel to get “tidy”
Nandi spoke to the Commons about why the feed from the Westholz stage was not cut, seeking answers from the BBC that streamed the festival.
“Given concerns about other acts in the weeks before the festival, when the death chant to IDF began, why did the feed not be cut immediately when due diligence took place prior to the decision to broadcast this particular act to the country,” Nandi said.
The BBC said in a statement it accused the performance of regretting not pulling the stream.
“The ruling that a screen warning was issued while streaming online was in line with editorial guidelines,” the station said. “The team was dealing with live situations, but in hindsight, they should have pulled the stream during the performance.”
Glastonbury organizers denounced Bob Vylan’s performance in an Instagram post on June 29th.
Health Secretary Wes Street said his comments were horrified by the fact that they were made on the stage, adding that he was appalled at the violence committed by Israeli settlers on the occupied West Bank.
“I also tell the Israeli Embassy that you are organizing your own home regarding your own citizens and settlers’ actions in the West Bank,” Streeting told Sky News. “I hope they will take their own citizen violence more seriously against the Palestinians.”
Contribution: Reuters
