Punk duo lead singer of Bob Vylan has stated he is "without regret" about his "death, death to the IDF" performance at the festival and declared he would "do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."
The vocal music pair sparked significant debate when they initiated crowd calls of "down with the IDF," pointing to the Israel Defense Forces, during their summer set. The chant was censured by Glastonbury and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who labeled it as "shocking hate speech."
After the event, the band was dropped by its agency United Talent Agency, and the American state department revoked the members' travel documents, compelling them to cancel a scheduled US and Canada tour.
In his initial public discussion after the Glastonbury performance, Vylan, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, conversed on a popular podcast. After asked if he would repeat his actions, he responded:
"Oh yeah. Like suppose I was to go on the festival again tomorrow, yes I would repeat it. I'm not regretful of it. I'd say it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."
He noted that the backlash the duo faced was "minimal compared to what individuals in Palestine are experiencing."
"I don't want to overstate the importance of the chant," he continued. "That's not what I'm attempting to do, but if I have the Palestinian people's backing, they're the people that I'm doing it for, they're the individuals that I'm being vocal for, then what is there to feel sorry about? Oh, because I've upset some conservative official or some conservative media?"
The musician said he was taken aback by the uproar sparked by the exclamation, and stated that members of the broadcaster staff at the event told him on the day that the performance was "excellent."
However, the broadcaster's executive complaints unit later found that the BBC's airing of the show breached editorial guidelines in regard to offense and offence.
He informed Theroux there was no sign of a dispute in the moment: "It wasn't like we left stage, and everybody was like [shocked]. It's just normal. We come off stage. It's normal. No one suspected anything. Not a soul. Including crew at the broadcaster were like 'That was fantastic! We loved that!'"
The musician also responded at Damon Albarn, who called the protest "one of the most spectacular misfires I've seen in my life" and described him as "marching in tennis gear."
Albarn's comment was "letdown" and "lacked self-awareness," he said.
"I need to say that categorising it as a 'spectacular misfire' suggests that in some way the politics of the duo or our stance on Palestine's freedom is not thought out," he stated.
"I strongly object with the phrase 'marching' being used because it's typically associated around Nazi Germany," he continued. "Precisely. And for him to use that language, I think is offensive. I think his answer was appalling."
After questioned what he meant by the phrase "Down with the IDF," Vylan clarified the chant itself was "insignificant."
"The key issue is the conditions that persist to allow that chant to even take place on that platform. And I mean, the conditions that are present in the region. Where the local population are being killed at an disturbing rate. Who cares about the slogan?" he stated.
"The phrase rhymes," he added: "'End, End the IDF does not rhyme, wouldn't have caught on, would it? … We are there to entertain. We are there to sing songs. I am a songwriter. 'Death, Death to IDF' rhymes. Perfect slogan."
The musician also rejected claims from the Community Security Trust, a watchdog and Jewish community safety group, that their performance contributed to a rise in anti-Jewish incidents recorded later.
"I believe I have caused an unsafe atmosphere for the Jewish community. If there were large numbers of people acting and saying 'Bob Vylan made me do this'. I could go, oof, I've had a bad impact here," he said.
As Vylan said he felt the band had been targeted more heavily than different artists for voicing views about the conflict, the host brought up the Irish band another band, who have likewise encountered criticism for their approach to pro-Palestinian messaging.
"That's an interesting one," Vylan said, "since as with all things race becomes a part in that we are an easier target, no pun intended, than others are because we are inherently the enemy."
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