The BBC announced immediate changes to its livestreaming protocols on Thursday after it aired a Glastonbury Festival performance in which punk rap duo Bob Vylan led the crowd in a chant of “Death to the IDF.”
The screed, broadcast live on BBC iPlayer over the weekend, drew widespread condemnation from the British public, political leaders and Jewish community groups.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer questioned how the incident was allowed to air, while Glastonbury organizers and the BBC swiftly distanced themselves from the content.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the BBC said it “deeply regrets” the incident and apologizes “in particular to the Jewish community,” emphasizing that “there can be no place for antisemitism at, or on, the BBC.”
The broadcaster revealed that Bob Vylan had been among seven acts identified as “high risk” in pre-festival assessments, but which were still approved for live streaming with certain precautions.
Although content warnings were shown during the duo’s set, the BBC acknowledged that failing to cut the broadcast was “an error.”
In response, the BBC pledged “immediate changes to livestreaming music events” and said accountability measures are being implemented for those responsible for the broadcast decision.
Meanwhile, Avon and Somerset Police have opened a criminal investigation into performances at the festival by both Bob Vylan and Irish rap group Kneecap.
Speaking on Spiked! podcast with Brendan O’Neill, barrister and legal director at the UK Lawyers for Israel Charitable Trust, Natasha Hausdorff said that Vylan’s chant was the “equivalent of ‘From the River to the Sea.’”
She said the chanting violated the Public Order Act, and the UK Lawyers for Israel has reported both the act and the BBC to the police on that basis.
“I saw a deterioration of public understanding, but also the barriers coming down and the lack of pretense to this sort of unbridled Jew-hate,” Hausdorff said.
In a statement on Tuesday, Bob Vylan members Bobby and Bobbie Vylan defended their actions, saying, “We are not for the death of Jews, Arabs or any other race or group of people,” and asserting their protest was against “a violent military machine.”
Referencing the British Parliament’s vote to proscribe the protest group Palestine Action, the duo added, “We are a distraction from the story. ... If you care for the sanctity of human life and freedom of speech, we urge you to speak up, too.”
