The British punk-rap duo Bob Vylan, who on Saturday led the crowd in chants of “Free, free Palestine” and “Death, death to IDF” during their Glastonbury Music Festival performance, may be denied entry to the US for their actions.
According to a senior US State Department official speaking to The Daily Wire, they are “already looking at revocation” of Bob Vylan’s visas ahead of a roughly 20-city tour through the United States, with performances planned in several major cities including Washington, DC.
“As a reminder, under the Trump administration, the US government will not issue visas to any foreigner who supports terrorists,” the official said.
The BBC, which broadcast the festival live, aired Bob Vylan’s performance without censorship but did not broadcast the performance of Irish hip hop group Kneecap, who also expressed pro-Palestinian messages live, citing editorial guidelines.
A BBC spokesperson described the comments made during Bob Vylan’s performance as “deeply offensive” and said the broadcaster has no plans to make the performance available on its iPlayer streaming platform.
While performing at the Glastonbury Music Festival, vocalist Bobby chanted “Free, free Palestine” “Death, death to the IDF” and said “Hell yeah, from the river to the sea, Palestine must be, will be, inshallah, it will be free” while on stage.
Following the performance, StopAntisemitism, a privately-funded American advocacy group, called for Bob Vylan to have their visas revoked ahead of their concerts in the United States for their Inertia Tour. They currently have concerts scheduled across more than a dozen major cities in the US.
“This antisemite must have his visa denied/rescinded - his hate is not welcome here,” StopAntisemitism wrote on X, referring to Bobby.
Australian band backs UK artists on Palestinians
Meanwhile, Australian pub rock band Amyl and the Sniffers have expressed support for UK bands who shouted pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli army slogans during performances at Britain's Glastonbury music festival, local media reported Monday.
In sharp criticism of the British media's “frenzied” response to Irish band Kneecap and punk-rap duo Bob Vylan's performances at the festival, the lead singer of Amyl and the Sniffers, Amy Taylor, took to social media and suggested there was a disconnect between public sentiment, governments and the media on the issue, local broadcaster SBS News reported.
Taylor's reaction followed her recent comments about the British and Australian governments not doing enough for Palestinians.
Without naming Bob Vylan or Kneecap, UK police said they are considering whether to launch an investigation. The chants were condemned by the Israeli embassy in the UK as "inflammatory and hateful rhetoric” while UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer labelled them "appalling hate speech.”
"The British media in a frenzee (sic) about Bob Vylan & Kneecap but artists all weekend at Glastonbury from pop to rock to punk to rap to DJs spoke up on stage & there were tonnes of (Palestinian) flags on every streamed set," Taylor wrote on Instagram.
"Trying to make it look like a couple of isolated incidents and a couple of 'bad bands' so that it appears the public isn't as anti-genocide as it is, and trying to make it look like Bob and Kneecap are one offs, instead of that the status quo has shifted majorly and that people are concerned and desperate for our govs to listen."
Earlier, Taylor was among several artists at Glastonbury who used their platform to criticize the British and Australian governments over their response to the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza.
"If we think about Palestine, then back home in Australia, we think about the Indigenous people there.
"We think about the fact that us as whiteys, we're the f---ing colonisers, and that's so disgusting," she said.
Elijah Hewson, the lead singer of Dublin band Inhaler and the son of U2 frontman Bono, and Irish singer Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, known professionally as CMAT, were among the artists who spoke out on the issue at the festival.
At least 56,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023.
The Israeli army resumed its attacks on the Gaza Strip on March 18 and has since killed 6,175 people and injured 21,378 others, shattering a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
