Bobby Vylan's Stance on Glastonbury Israel Defense Forces Protest: "Zero Regrets"

The frontman of Bob Vylan has expressed he is "without regret" about his "anti-IDF chant" performance at Glastonbury and declared he would "do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

Controversial Exclamation and Official Reactions

This outspoken punk duo sparked significant debate when they initiated crowd chants of "down with the IDF," pointing to the Israel Defense Forces, during their June performance. The chant was censured by festival organizers and UK Prime Minister the prime minister, who labeled it as "appalling hate speech."

Following the incident, Bob Vylan was released by its agency UTA, and the American government cancelled the artists' travel documents, forcing the duo to call off a scheduled US and Canada concert series.

Conversation with the Podcaster

In his first public discussion after the festival performance, the musician, using his real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, conversed on a popular podcast. When questioned if he would repeat his actions, he replied:

"Oh yeah. For instance suppose I was to perform at the festival again tomorrow, yes I would repeat it. I'm without regret of it. I'd say it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

He noted that the backlash the band faced was "minimal compared to what individuals in Palestine are experiencing."

Regarding the Protest's Significance

"I don't want to exaggerate the importance of the slogan," he continued. "That's not what I'm trying to do, but if I have the Palestinian people's backing, they're the individuals that I'm advocating for, these are the people that I'm being vocal for, then what is there to regret? Oh, because I've angered some conservative official or some rightwing news outlet?"

Unexpected Reaction and BBC Feedback

This artist claimed he was surprised by the outcry triggered by the exclamation, and asserted that members of the broadcaster staff at Glastonbury told him on the same day that the performance was "excellent."

Yet, the broadcaster's executive complaints unit later determined that the BBC's broadcast of the performance breached content guidelines in regard to harm and offence.

Vylan told the host there was no sign of a dispute in the immediate aftermath: "It didn't feel like we left stage, and everybody was like [gasps]. It felt normal. We come off stage. It's normal. No one suspected anything. Nobody. Even staff at the BBC were like 'That was fantastic! We loved that!'"

Response to Blur Frontman

Vylan also responded at Damon Albarn, who called the protest "one of the most spectacular misfires I've witnessed in my life" and described Vylan as "marching in sport gear."

Albarn's reaction was "letdown" and "showed no self-awareness," Vylan remarked.

"I need to say that categorising it as a 'huge mistake' implies that in some way the views of the duo or our position on Palestine's freedom is not thought out," he explained.

"I take great issue with the phrase 'marching' being used because it's only used around the Nazis," he added. "That's it. And for him to use that wording, I think is disgusting. I think his answer was disgusting."

Meaning Behind the Slogan

When questioned what he intended by the phrase "Death to the IDF," the artist said the slogan itself was "unimportant."

"What is important is the conditions that exist to allow that protest to even occur on that platform. And I mean, the conditions that are present in the region. In which the local population are being killed at an disturbing rate. Who cares about the slogan?" he said.

"The phrase rhymes," he noted: "'End, End the IDF does not rhyme, wouldn't have caught on, right? … We are there to entertain. We are there to sing songs. I am a lyricist. 'The chant' rhymes. Ideal chant."

Denial of Antisemitism Claims

The musician also rejected claims from the Community Security Trust, a monitoring and Jewish safety organisation, that their set led to a spike in antisemitic events recorded later.

"I don't think I have caused an unsafe environment for the Jewish community. Suppose there were large numbers of individuals acting and saying 'We made me do this'. I might go, oh, I've had a negative effect here," he said.

Comparison with Different Artists

When he said he thought the duo had been criticised more severely than different artists for speaking about the situation, Theroux brought up the Ireland-based group Kneecap, who have also faced backlash for their approach to pro-Palestine messaging.

"That's an interesting one," he responded, "since as with everything ethnicity becomes a factor in that we are an easier villain, no pun intended, than they are because we are inherently the opponent."