From The Telegraph
The Chief Rabbi has criticised the BBC over its response to a rapper who chanted “death, death to the IDF” at Glastonbury.
Bob Vylan, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, repeated the phrase in a performance that was broadcast live by the BBC. The corporation has expressed regret at not pulling the livestream, with the Culture Secretary claiming the issue should have been foreseeable and constituted “a problem of leadership” for the broadcaster.
But in a post on X, Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis described the incident as a “time of national shame”.
He said: “This is a time of national shame. The airing of vile Jew-hatred at Glastonbury and the BBC’s belated and mishandled response, brings confidence in our national broadcaster’s ability to treat anti-Semitism seriously to a new low. It should trouble all decent people that now, one need only couch their outright incitement to violence and hatred as edgy political commentary, for ordinary people to not only fail to see it for what it is, but also to cheer it, chant it and celebrate it.
“Toxic Jew-hatred is a threat to our entire society.”
Tim Davie, who was visiting staff at the festival on Saturday afternoon, was informed of the chant shortly after it had been made and ruled that the rap duo’s set should not be made available to watch on demand. However, the chant remained on iPlayer for another five hours. Sources stressed that pulling the livestream was not discussed, but a spokesman said that, in hindsight, the BBC regretted that this decision was not taken.
Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, suggested that the incident called Mr Davie’s position into question. Speaking in the Commons, she said: “When you have one editorial failure, it’s something that must be gripped. When you have several, it becomes a problem of leadership.”
Ms Nandy was responding to a question from Peter Prinsley, the MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, who said: “The murder of hundreds of Jews at the Nova music festival in October 2023 sparked this war. The irony of broadcast anti-Semitism at Glastonbury here in the UK is not lost on any of us. . . ”
It is the latest anti-Semitism controversy to engulf the BBC.
The Duo are known together as ‘The Bobs’. The mouth uses the stage name Bobby Vylan, the drummer who so far has kept quiet and maintained his cover is known as Bobbie Vylan. Mouth’s real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster. He is a company director of two companies, Ghost Theater and Lavy Hill Ltd. Neither seem to run or make anything but show a nice annual profit so we suspect these are for tax purposes. Nothing unusual or illegal in that, but incongruous that the “established performance poet” who previously performed under the name Nee Hi has a double-barrelled surname and is a company director.
Avon and Somerset police are investigation the anti-semitic chanting and the US State Department have revoked both visas for their forthcoming US tour.
