The BBC’s coverage of Glastonbury has become a cherished part of the UK’s cultural life. But this year, something went badly wrong. On Saturday 28 June, during a live broadcast of Bob Vylan’s performance on the West Holts stage, the BBC aired a segment in which the band’s frontman led the crowd in chanting: “Death, death to the IDF.” There was no context given, no editorial challenge made, and no attempt to acknowledge or mitigate the gravity of what was said.
Let’s be clear: this was not criticism of Israeli policy. This was not artistic expression challenging political power. This was a call to violence—directed explicitly at the army of a democratic state and, by extension, its soldiers. This was a chant that celebrated their death.
In the same set, Bob Vylan remarked that he had “done it all including working for f***ing Zionists” and his “Zionist boss.” In today’s climate, after the horrors of the 7 October 2023 attacks and surge in antisemitic incidents across the UK, this cannot be simply dismissed as political edge.
When “Zionist” is used in this way, it rarely refers to a specific political position. It becomes a code. It is deployed as a stand-in for Jews, and the Glastonbury insult becomes clear: this someone was too Jewish to be respectable, or too Jewish to be trusted. This is not new. But hearing it cheered by the crowd on national television hits differently.
The BBC, a publicly funded institution, chose to air these comments in real time, with no delay, editing, warning or commentary. In doing so, it brought messages of hate into millions of homes. That is not bad taste. It is a failure of duty.
Public broadcasters carry responsibilities. They must balance freedom of expression with basic standards. They must hold the line between protest and prejudice. Would the BBC have aired chants directed at another country’s military? Would they have allowed language so brazenly hostile toward any other minority group? Of course not. And yet, when it comes to Jews and the Jewish State, somehow the line always seems to shift.
That double standard is not subtle. British Jews see it. We feel it. And it must stop.
The BBC must now take clear and public action:
Firstly, it must commission an independent review into how this material was aired, and what went wrong so that similar content can be prevented from reaching the airwaves in future.
Second, it must pause its live coverage of Glastonbury until editorial safeguards are proven.
Finally, it must publicly reaffirm its commitment to tackling antisemitism, even when it appears in cultural or political form.
Just because it was airing “culture”, rather than “news”, does not give the BBC immunity from responsibility. Broadcasting chants that glorify violence and push antisemitic tropes is not journalism. It is not freedom of expression. It is failure.
And it must never happen again.
Amanda Bowman is co-chair of London Jewish Forum and a past vice president of the Board of Deputies
