Punk duo frontman Bobby Vylan has expressed he is "without regret" about his "anti-IDF chant" performance at the festival and declared he would "repeat it tomorrow, twice on Sundays."
The outspoken punk duo ignited widespread controversy when they led audience chants of "down with the IDF," pointing to the Israel Defense Forces, during their summer performance. The slogan was censured by Glastonbury and Britain's leader Keir Starmer, who described it as "appalling hate speech."
After the incident, the band was dropped by its representation UTA, and the US state department cancelled the members' travel documents, compelling them to cancel a planned US and Canada concert series.
During his first interview since the Glastonbury show, Vylan, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, conversed on The Louis Theroux Podcast. When questioned if he would repeat his actions, he replied:
"Absolutely. Like suppose I was to perform at the festival again tomorrow, definitely I would repeat it. I'm not regretful of it. I'd say it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."
The artist noted that the criticism the band encountered was "minimal compared to what people in Palestine are going through."
"I aim not to exaggerate the significance of the slogan," he continued. "It isn't what I'm trying to do, but since I have the Palestinian people's backing, these are the individuals that I'm advocating for, these are the individuals that I'm being vocal for, then what is there to regret? Well, because I've upset some conservative politician or some rightwing news outlet?"
This artist claimed he was surprised by the outcry triggered by the exclamation, and asserted that staff of the broadcaster staff at Glastonbury told him on the same day that the set was "fantastic."
However, the corporation's ECU later determined that the BBC's broadcast of the show breached editorial guidelines in regard to offense and offence.
He informed the host there was no indication of a dispute in the immediate aftermath: "It wasn't like we left stage, and everyone was like [shocked]. It felt normal. We leave stage. It was normal. Nobody thought anything. Not a soul. Even crew at the BBC were like 'It was fantastic! We loved that!'"
The musician also responded at the Blur singer, who called the protest "a major misstep I've seen in my life" and characterized him as "goose-stepping in tennis gear."
His comment was "letdown" and "lacked self-awareness," Vylan remarked.
"I need to say that labeling it as a 'spectacular misfire' implies that in some way the politics of the band or our position on Palestinian liberation is not thought out," he stated.
"I strongly object with the term 'marching' being used because it's only used around the Nazis," he added. "Precisely. And for him to use that wording, I think is disgusting. I think his answer was appalling."
When questioned what he meant by the phrase "Down with the IDF," the artist said the chant itself was "unimportant."
"What is important is the conditions that persist to permit that protest to even take place on that platform. And I mean, the conditions that are present in Palestine. Where the local population are being killed at an disturbing rate. Who cares about the chant?" he said.
"The phrase rhymes," he noted: "'End, End the IDF does not rhyme, wouldn't have spread, would it? … We are there to perform. We are there to sing songs. I am a songwriter. 'Death, Death to IDF' rhymes. Ideal slogan."
Vylan also denied claims from the CST, a monitoring and Jewish community safety organisation, that their performance contributed to a spike in anti-Jewish events recorded later.
"I believe I have created an hostile environment for the Jewish community. Suppose there were many individuals of individuals acting and going like 'Bob Vylan made me do this'. I could go, oof, I've had a bad effect here," he said.
When Vylan said he thought the duo had been criticised more severely than others for speaking about the conflict, Theroux brought up the Irish band another band, who have likewise faced criticism for their method to pro-Palestinian advocacy.
"That's a notable point," Vylan said, "since as with all things race comes to play a factor in that we are an easier villain, seriously, than others are because we are already the opponent."
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