Bobby Vylan's Stance on Festival Israel Defense Forces Protest: "No Remorse"

The frontman Bobby Vylan has expressed he is "without regret" about his "death, death to the IDF" performance at the festival and asserted he would "do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

Disputed Exclamation and Official Reactions

The outspoken punk duo ignited significant controversy when they initiated crowd chants of "down with the IDF," referring to the Israel Defense Forces, during their June set. The chant was condemned by Glastonbury and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who labeled it as "appalling hate speech."

Following the incident, the band was dropped by its agency UTA, and the American state department revoked the members' visas, forcing them to call off a scheduled US and Canada tour.

Interview with Louis Theroux

In his first interview since the festival performance, the musician, using his real name is Pascal Foster, conversed on The Louis Theroux Podcast. When asked if he would repeat his actions, he responded:

"Oh yeah. Like what if I was to go on Glastonbury again tomorrow, definitely I would repeat it. I'm without regret of it. I'd say it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

He noted that the criticism the duo faced was "minimal compared to what individuals in Gaza are going through."

On the Protest's Importance

"I aim not to overstate the importance of the slogan," he elaborated. "That's not what I'm trying to do, but if I have their backing, they're the people that I'm doing it for, these are the people that I'm being vocal for, then what is there to regret? Well, because I've upset some rightwing politician or some rightwing media?"

Surprising Response and BBC Feedback

This artist claimed he was taken aback by the outcry triggered by the chant, and asserted that staff of the broadcaster employees at Glastonbury told him on the day that the performance was "excellent."

Yet, the broadcaster's ECU subsequently found that the network's airing of the show violated editorial guidelines in regard to harm and hurt.

Vylan told the host there was no indication of a dispute in the immediate aftermath: "It didn't feel like we left stage, and everybody was like [shocked]. It's just normal. We come off stage. It was normal. No one thought anything. Not a soul. Even crew at the BBC were like 'It was fantastic! We enjoyed that!'"

Response to Blur Frontman

Vylan also hit back at the Blur singer, who labeled the protest "a major misstep I've seen in my life" and characterized him as "goose-stepping in sport gear."

Albarn's reaction was "letdown" and "lacked self-awareness," he remarked.

"I need to say that categorising it as a 'huge mistake' suggests that somehow the views of the band or our stance on Palestine's freedom is unplanned," he explained.

"I strongly object with the phrase 'marching' being used because it's only used around Nazi Germany," he added. "Precisely. And for him to use that language, I think is offensive. I think his answer was disgusting."

Meaning Behind the Slogan

When asked what he meant by the phrase "Death to the IDF," Vylan clarified the chant itself was "unimportant."

"What is important is the conditions that persist to permit that protest to even occur on that stage. And I mean, the circumstances that exist in the region. Where the Palestinian people are being killed at an alarming rate. Who cares about the slogan?" he stated.

"Death to the IDF rhymes," he noted: "'End, End the IDF does not rhyme, wouldn't have spread, would it? … We are there to entertain. We are there to play music. I am a songwriter. 'The chant' rhymes. Perfect chant."

Rejection of Hate Speech Claims

Vylan also denied claims from the CST, a monitoring and Jewish community safety group, that their performance contributed to a spike in anti-Jewish events recorded later.

"I don't think I have created an hostile environment for the Jewish community. If there were large numbers of individuals acting and going like 'Bob Vylan made me do this'. I might go, oof, I've had a negative effect here," he commented.

Contrast with Different Artists

When Vylan said he thought the band had been targeted more severely than different artists for speaking about the situation, the host brought up the Irish group another band, who have also faced backlash for their method to pro-Palestinian advocacy.

"That's an interesting one," he responded, "because as with everything race comes to play a part in that we are an easier target, no pun intended, than they are because we are inherently the opponent."

Craig Johnson
Craig Johnson

Lena is a passionate esports journalist and event organizer, dedicated to covering gaming culture and industry developments in Europe.

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