Glastonbury: Criminal Investigation Launched into Kneecap and Bob Vylan

At the Glastonbury Festival this past week, the musical duo known as Bob Vylan led the chants “Free, free, Palestine,” “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and “Death, death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces],” while some attendees waved massive Palestinian flags. The BBC aired the show live but has since admitted that “with hindsight we should have pulled the stream during the performance,” and the performance will not be available on iPlayer. Organizers of Glastonbury have also expressed criticism, saying, “Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.”

Glastonbury also featured the Irish rap trio Kneecap, a group that made headlines recently because one of its members was charged with a terror offense for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag while saying “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah,” during a show. In light of the terror charge, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it would not be “appropriate” for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury. Yet the band did perform, and one of its members told the audience, “The prime minister of your country, not mine, said he didn’t want us to play, so f*** Keir Starmer.” Kneecap then led the crowd in chants of “f*** Keir Starmer” and “Free Palestine.”

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Abigail Anthony

Abigail Anthony is a staff writer at National Review.

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At the Glastonbury Festival this past week, the musical duo known as Bob Vylan led the chants “Free, free, Palestine,” “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and “Death, death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces],” while some attendees waved massive Palestinian flags. The BBC aired the show live but has since admitted that “with hindsight we should have pulled the stream during the performance,” and the performance will not be available on iPlayer. Organizers of Glastonbury have also expressed criticism, saying, “Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.”

Glastonbury also featured the Irish rap trio Kneecap, a group that made headlines recently because one of its members was charged with a terror offense for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag while saying “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah,” during a show. In light of the terror charge, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it would not be “appropriate” for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury. Yet the band did perform, and one of its members told the audience, “The prime minister of your country, not mine, said he didn’t want us to play, so f*** Keir Starmer.” Kneecap then led the crowd in chants of “f*** Keir Starmer” and “Free Palestine.”