The European Jewish Association, a Brussels-based umbrella organization representing more than 650 Jewish communities, has urged the organizer of a music festival in Belgium to cancel the appearance of Bob Vylan next week following the band’s statements at the Glastonbury Festival in England.
During the performance on June 28 of Bob Vylan, a group that combines punk rock with grime rap, the duo shouted cries such as “Death, death to the IDF!” “Free, free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea.” Behind them, political messaging referenced the supposed genocide.
The British government has requested explanations from the festival’s organizers and the BBC, which broadcast the concert. The British media regulator Ofcom is also demanding answers from the broadcaster.
British police have launched an investigation into the set. Glastonbury quickly distanced itself from the band, while the BBC condemned its performance as hate speech. They—singer/guitarist Bobby Vylan (real name—Pascal Robinson-Foster) and drummer Bobbie Vylan (real name Pascal Robinson-Foster)—have had their visas for a gig in the United States revoked and have been dropped by their talent agency. They have also been dropped from numerous concerts across Europe.
They are, however, still on the list of performers at next week’s Rock Herk, an annual alternative music festival in Herk-de-Stad, in the Belgian province of Limburg.
In a letter to Maarten Ruelens, the festival organizer, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the European Jewish Association stressed that “this is not about silencing criticism of Israel, this is about silencing a proud and unbowed proponent of hate speech against Jews, in a very febrile and dangerous environment for Jewish communities across Europe.
“You do not have to support Israel. You can, even if you choose to do so, support the Palestinian cause. We live in a democracy. But hate speech is entirely different. What Bob Vylan is doing is calling for murder,” Margolin wrote.
He added, “You are aware that antisemitism across Europe, especially in Belgium, has exploded since the Oct. 7 attacks. Jews are assaulted, harassed, insulted and threatened daily for the war and their support for the world’s only Jewish state. That the word genocide, itself coined by a survivor of the Holocaust, is now turned against us and has entered the lexicon without foundation, means that every Jew is a target.
“Music is a tremendous force for good. It unites. It has power, and it can and should be political on occasion. But it must never be hateful, hurtful or a rallying cry for murder against Jews—or anyone else for that matter,” Margolin wrote, urging the Rock Herk festival organizer to cancel Bob Vylan’s performance.
“Your choice, as binary and regrettable as it is, is to stand against hate speech, or give it a platform by legitimizing Bob Vylan’s call to murder.”
Originally published by the European Jewish Press.
