Bob Vylan's defiant statement in full as rapper breaks silence after Glastonbury outrage

Musician Bobby Vylan has broken his silence with a defiant response following his controversial Glastonbury set on Saturday.

Rapper Bobby, of punk duo Bob Vylan, this weekend led crowds on the festival's West Holts Stage in chants of: "Free, free Palestine" and: "Death, death to the IDF". Police are continuing to examine videos of the comments he made on stage, and what happened during Kneecap's set.

Posting on Instagram, he told his fans that he had been “inundated” with a mixture of “support and hatred” following the performance but that he stood by what he said and is calling for “a change in foreign policy” despite the the Israeli Embassy saying it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".

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In a lengthy statement captioned “I said what I said”, the musician wrote: “As I lay in bed this morning, my phone buzzing non stop, inundated with messages of both support and hatred, l listen to my daughter typing out loud as she fills out a school survey asking for her feedback on the current state of her school dinners.

“She expressed that she would like healthier meals, more options and dishes inspired by other parts of the world. Listening to her voice her opinions on a matter that she cares about and affects her daily, reminds me that we may not be doomed after all.”

“Teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place. As we grow older and our fire possibly starts to dim under the suffocation of adult life and all its responsibilities, it is incredibly important that we encourage and inspire future generations to pick up the torch that was passed to us.

“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 concluded his statement: “Today it is a change in school dinners, tomorrow it is a change in foreign policy.”

After perhaps the most politically-charged Glastonbury ever, organisers said: “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.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has demanded BBC bosses "explain" how the punk duo calling for the death of Israeli soldiers was broadcast from Worthy Farm. He said: "There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech. I said that Kneecap should not be given a platform and that goes for any other performers making threats or inciting violence. The BBC needs to explain how these scenes came to be broadcast."

In a post on social media, Avon and Somerset Police said: "We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon. Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation."

The Israeli Embassy had plenty to say and also released a statement. "Freedom of expression is a cornerstone of democracy. But when speech crosses into incitement, hatred, and advocacy of ethnic cleansing, it must be called out-especially when amplified by public figures on prominent platforms.

"Chants such as 'Death to the IDF,' and 'From the river to the sea' are slogans that advocate for the dismantling of the State of Israel and implicitly call for the elimination of Jewish self-determination. When such messages are delivered before tens of thousands of festivalgoers and met with applause, it raises serious concerns about the normalisation of extremist language and the glorification of violence.

"We call on Glastonbury Festival organisers, artists, and public leaders in the UK to denounce this rhetoric and reject of all forms of hatred." Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called the scenes "grotesque", writing on X: "Glorifying violence against Jews isn't edgy. The West is playing with fire if we allow this sort of behaviour to go unchecked. The cultural establishment needs to wake up to the fact this isn't protest, it's incitement.

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