The upcoming U.S. tour for a British punk-rap duo is now in doubt after the U.S. State Department revoked the bandmates’ visas following an anti-Israel rant at Glastonbury last weekend.
On Saturday, Bob Vylan — composed of Bobby Vylan, aka Pascal Robinson-Foster, and drummer Bobbie Vylan — took the stage at the Glastonbury Festival in Somerset, England, one of the most popular music events in the world. There, with a Palestinian flag adorning a banner with his band’s name in the background, front man Bobby Vylan made clear that his group supports the Palestinian cause and wishes “death” upon members of the Israel Defense Forces.
‘I said what I said.’
“All right, but have you heard this one, though? ‘Death, death to the IDF,'” Vylan said.
After the audience dutifully chanted, “Death, death to the IDF,” over and over and enthusiastically waved Palestinian flags, Vylan added, “Hell yeah. From the river to the sea, Palestine must be, will be — inshallah — it will be free!”
Video of the speech can be seen here.
Response to the rant from Bobby Vylan was swift and fierce. Glastonbury Festival organizer Emily Eavis posted to social media that she was “appalled” by Vylan’s words.
“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,” she said.
The BBC, which streamed the Bob Vylan performance live, later expressed “regret” for not pulling the livestream. “The BBC respects freedom of expression but stands firmly against incitement to violence,” the BBC said in a statement, according to the Hollywood Reporter. “The anti-Semitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves. We welcome Glastonbury’s condemnation of the performance.”
The U.S. State Department likewise took notice of Vylan’s speech and immediately moved to block visas for both Bobby and Bobbie Vylan.
“The @StateDept has revoked the US visas for the members of the Bob Vylan band in light of their hateful tirade at Glastonbury, including leading the crowd in death chants,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau posted to X on Monday. “Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country.”
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Bob Vylan is scheduled to perform on this side of the Atlantic Ocean later this year, kicking off a 16-stop North American tour with a gig in Spokane, Washington, in October. The revoked visas likely put this tour in jeopardy.
For the moment, Bobby Vylan appears unfazed by all the “support and hatred” he has received since the stunt. In an Instagram post on Sunday, he encouraged parents to demonstrate in the streets and model political activism for their children.
“It is incredibly important that we encourage and inspire future generations to pick up the torch that was passed to us,” his lengthy statement read in part. “Let us display to them loudly and visibly the right thing to do when we want and need change. Let them see us marching in the streets, campaigning on ground level, organising online and shouting about it on any and every stage that we are offered.”
He later commented: “I said what I said.”
Vylan also posted, “While Zionists are crying on socials, I’ve just had late night (vegan) ice cream,” according to the U.K. Standard.
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Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Since he became secretary of state earlier this year, Marco Rubio has prioritized removing from the U.S. foreigners who threaten America and American values, especially those who take advantage of the opportunity to study at our prestigious universities.
“If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us that the reason why you’re coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, we’re not going to give you a visa,” Rubio said back in March.
“We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses.”
On his first day back in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order vowing to take “forceful and unprecedented steps to combat anti-Semitism,” which included revoking foreign student visas and deporting Hamas sympathizers.
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Bob vylan, Glastonbury, Bobby vylan, Bobbie vylan, Marco rubio, State department, Visa, Tour, Band, England, Bbc, Politics
