“We are being targeted for speaking up. We are not the first. We will not be the last.”
Punk band Bob Vylan have released a statement following their controversial performance at this year’s Glastonbury Festival.
During their performance, which was broadcast live on the BBC, the band’s singer – Bobby Vylan – initiated a chant among the audience of ‘Death, death to the IDF’. The IDF is the acronym for the Israeli military, the Israeli Defence Forces. This followed the audience being encouraged to chant ‘free, free Palestine’.
Bob Vylan’s performance sparked major controversy, with tabloid newspapers using their front pages to call for their arrest, and political figures condemning them in the House of Commons. Avon and Somerset Police have now confirmed that they are conducting a criminal investigation into the performance, as well as into a separate investigation into the Glastonbury performance from Irish rap trio Kneecap.
The band has now released a public statement responding to the controversy in full. In a post on their Instagram page headed ‘Not the first, Not the last’, the band said: “Today a good many people would have you believe a punk band is the number one threat to world peace. Last week it was a Palestine pressure group, the week before that it was another band.
“We are not for the death of jews, arabs or any other race or group of people. We are for the dismantling of a violent military machine. A machine whose own soldiers were told to use ‘unnecessary lethal force’ against innocent civilians waiting for aid. A machine that has destroyed much of Gaza.
“We, like those in the spotlight before us, are not the story. We are a distraction from the story. And whatever sanctions we receive will be a distraction.
“The government doesn’t want us to ask why they remain silent in the face of this atrocity? To ask why they aren’t doing more to stop the killing? To feed the starving?
“The more time they talk about Bob Vylan, the less time they spend answering for their criminal inaction.
“We are being targeted for speaking up. We are not the first. We will not be the last. And if you care for the sanctity of human life and freedom of speech. We urge you to speak up too.”
At the time of publication, the statement had received over 50,000 likes on Instagram.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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