Bobby Vylan Stance on Festival IDF Chant: "No Remorse"

The frontman of Bob Vylan has stated he is "not regretful" about his "death, death to the IDF" act at Glastonbury and asserted he would "repeat it tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

Controversial Chant and Political Responses

This vocal punk duo ignited widespread debate when they led crowd chants of "down with the IDF," pointing to the IDF, during their summer performance. This slogan was condemned by festival organizers and Britain's leader Keir Starmer, who labeled it as "shocking hate speech."

Following the incident, Bob Vylan was dropped by its representation United Talent Agency, and the US government cancelled the members' visas, compelling them to call off a planned North American tour.

Conversation with Louis Theroux

During his initial public discussion after the festival show, Vylan, using his real name is Pascal Foster, spoke on The Louis Theroux Podcast. After questioned if he would do it all again, he replied:

"Oh yeah. Like what if I was to perform at the festival again tomorrow, definitely I would do it again. I'm without regret of it. I'd do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

The artist added that the criticism the band encountered was "minimal compared to what individuals in Palestine are going through."

Regarding the Protest's Significance

"I aim not to exaggerate the significance of the slogan," he elaborated. "That's not what I'm trying to do, but if I have their backing, these are the people that I'm doing it for, these are the people that I'm being vocal for, then what is there to regret? Well, because I've upset some rightwing official or some rightwing media?"

Unexpected Reaction and BBC Feedback

This musician said he was surprised by the uproar sparked by the exclamation, and stated that staff of the broadcaster staff at Glastonbury told him on the same day that the set was "fantastic."

Yet, the corporation's executive complaints unit later determined that the network's airing of the show breached content guidelines in regard to offense and offence.

Vylan told Theroux there was no indication of a dispute in the moment: "It wasn't like we left stage, and everybody was like [gasps]. It felt normal. We leave stage. It's normal. No one thought anything. Nobody. Even staff at the BBC were like 'That was fantastic! We loved that!'"

Response to Blur Frontman

The musician also hit back at the Blur singer, who called the chant "a major misstep I've witnessed in my life" and characterized him as "goose-stepping in tennis gear."

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

"I just want to say that categorising it as a 'spectacular misfire' implies that in some way the views of the band or our position on Palestine's freedom is not thought out," he stated.

"I strongly object with the phrase 'marching' being used because it's only used around Nazi Germany," he added. "That's it. And for him to use that language, I think is offensive. I think his response was appalling."

Meaning Behind the Slogan

After asked what he meant by the phrase "Down with the IDF," Vylan said the chant itself was "unimportant."

"The key issue is the conditions that exist to permit that chant to even occur on that stage. And I mean, the conditions that exist in the region. In which the local people are being slain at an disturbing rate. What matters about the chant?" he stated.

"Death to the IDF rhymes," he noted: "Stop the IDF' does not rhyme, wouldn't have caught on, right? … We are there to entertain. We are there to play music. I am a songwriter. 'Death, Death to IDF' rhymes. Ideal slogan."

Denial of Hate Speech Claims

The musician also denied assertions from the CST, a monitoring and Jewish community safety group, that their set led to a rise in anti-Jewish incidents reported later.

"I don't think I have created an unsafe environment for the Jewish community. If there were large numbers of people acting and saying 'Bob Vylan made me do this'. I might go, oof, I've had a bad impact here," he said.

Comparison with Different Bands

As he mentioned he felt the band had been targeted more heavily than different artists for speaking about the conflict, Theroux referenced the Ireland-based band Kneecap, who have likewise encountered backlash for their method to pro-Palestinian advocacy.

"That's an interesting one," Vylan said, "because as with everything race comes to play a part in that we are an more convenient villain, seriously, than they are because we are already the enemy."