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The BBC Aired Anti-Jewish Hate Speech and Broadcast It Across the World
Bob Vylan music duo performance at Glastonbury Festival (Source: FLIKR)
The viral footage of British pop-punk duo Bob Vylan leading a crowd of thousands in antisemitic chants at Glastonbury is as disturbing as it is revealing. It shows how far anti-Jewish hatred has penetrated mainstream British culture. And more damningly, it exposes the role of the UK’s public broadcaster in normalizing this climate of hate.
In a performance likened by some to a neo-Nazi rally, frontman Bobby Vylan incited the crowd to chant “Death, death to the IDF,” followed by “Free, free Palestine,” and once again, “Death, death to the IDF.” He then closed with his twist on the now-ubiquitous Hamas slogan: “From the river to the sea, Palestine must be, will be, free.”
The band performed in front of a screen that read: “Free Palestine. United Nations have called it a genocide. The BBC calls it a ‘conflict.’” This, from a band that took its name from Bob Dylan, a Jewish musician who once lived on an Israeli kibbutz, not unlike the ones attacked by Hamas on October 7. Dylan even wrote a song defending Zionism. One wonders if the irony is lost on them, because it certainly wasn’t on us.
Even more chilling was Bobby Vylan’s open call for violence: “We are not pacifist punks here over at Bob Vylan Enterprises. We are the violent punks, because sometimes, you have to get your message across with violence — because that is the only language some people speak.”
Let that sit for a moment. On stage at the UK’s most iconic music festival, a performer openly called for violence, was cheered by a huge crowd, and then broadcast straight into people’s living rooms.
The performance went viral almost instantly. Politicians from across the UK political spectrum condemned it. The police opened an investigation. The government revealed that Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy had contacted the BBC’s Director-General demanding an “urgent explanation” as to why the performance aired.
The opposition Conservative Party chair Kemi Badenoch called the performance “grotesque,” adding: “Glorifying violence against Jews isn’t edgy. Less than two years ago, hundreds were raped and murdered at a music festival. It’s not just the act, it’s the gormless people clapping along and cheering — people with no idea what real terror is.”
And the BBC? It issued a statement several hours later defending its failure to cut the livestream on the grounds that it had informed viewers about “discriminatory language”:
Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan’s set were deeply offensive. During this live stream on iPlayer, which reflected what was happening on stage, a warning was issued on screen about the very strong and discriminatory language. We have no plans to make the performance available on demand.
A warning on screen. That’s their excuse for airing what, without a shred of hyperbole, was a festival performance that descended into something indistinguishable from a hate rally.
Worse still, the BBC knew this could happen. Bob Vylan had already used their Coachella slot earlier this year to lead anti-Israel chants, as had another band invited to Glastonbury: the Northern Irish group Kneecap.
Kneecap also went viral for its Coachella performance, which featured violent anti-Israel messaging. The band is currently under police investigation for a UK show where it waved a Hezbollah flag and shouted “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah.” In light of this, the BBC made the decision not to livestream Kneecap’s Glastonbury set, which, by the way, was scheduled immediately after Bob Vylan.
Yet despite supposedly learning from past mistakes, the BBC still allowed Bob Vylan’s set to air live. Kneecap, too, made its Glastonbury moment about glorifying terrorism, shouting “Free Palestine” and taking a shot at UK politics: “The Prime Minister of your country, not mine, said he didn’t want us to play, so f*** Keir Starmer.”
So far, Kneecap has lost its US representation over its open flirtation with terrorism, but it’s also gained a whole new fan base. The kind that isn’t there for the music, but for the antisemitism. It turns out that being an antisemite in the entertainment industry pays.
Let’s be clear. Bob Vylan doesn’t care about Palestinians. Before October 7 — before more than 1,200 Israelis were butchered by Hamas, hundreds taken hostage, and a music festival turned into a massacre — they hadn’t uttered a word about “Palestine.” But after Kneecap stole their thunder at Coachella, they came to Glastonbury determined to go even further. And they did.
But the real villains here aren’t just the talentless, hateful musicians. The deeper rot lies first with the BBC, which didn’t just fail to act in advance, but continued airing the performance. The corporation’s coverage of Israel has long been a masterclass in bias. Its news division has distorted the Israel–Palestinian conflict so thoroughly that the British public can barely distinguish fact from Hamas propaganda.
Then there are the Glastonbury Festival organizers, who now insist the performance “crossed a line” and say they’re “urgently reminding” artists not to engage in hate speech. A convenient stance, coming from the very people who invited and paid these acts to appear in the first place.
And finally, the UK government, which suddenly claims to be horrified, despite having allowed London to become ground zero for weekly marches calling for Israel’s destruction. Marches filled with “Globalize the Intifada” slogans and placards glorifying terrorism. Police looked away. Ministers stayed silent. Now, they act surprised.
They all helped build this. And now they act shocked that the monster they fed has taken the stage.
On June 30, UK media regulator Ofcom said the BBC has “questions to answer” over why the performance was aired, and is “urgently” seeking more information. In a new statement, the BBC admitted it should have pulled the stream, calling Bob Vylan’s antisemitic comments “utterly unacceptable.” It added: “With hindsight we regret this did not happen,” and said it will review its guidance for live broadcasts.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
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‘Fine Scholar’: UC Berkeley Chancellor Praises Professor Who Expressed Solidarity With Oct. 7 Attacks
University of California, Berkeley chancellor Dr. Rich Lyons, testifies at a Congressional hearing on antisemitism, in Washington, D.C., U.S., on July 15, 2025. Photo: Allison Bailey via Reuters Connect.
The chancellor of University of California, Berkeley described a professor who cheered the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre across southern Israel a “fine scholar” during a congressional hearing held at Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
Richard K. Lyons, who assumed the chancellorship in July 2024 issued the unmitigated praise while being questioned by members of the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce, which summoned him and the chief administrators of two other major universities to interrogate their handling of the campus antisemitism crisis.
Lyons stumbled into the statement while being questioned by Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI), who asked Lyons to describe the extent of his relationship and correspondence with Professor Ussama Makdisi, who tweeted in Feb. 2024 that he “could have been one of those who broke through the siege on October 7.”
“What do you think the professor meant,” McClain asked Lyons, to which the chancellor responded, “I believe it was a celebration of the terrorist attack on October 7.” McClain proceeded to ask if Lyons discussed the tweet with Makdisi or personally reprimanded him, prompting an exchange of remarks which concluded with Lyons’s saying, “He is a fine scholar.”
Lyon’s comment came after nearly three hours in which the group of university leaders — which included Dr. Robert Groves, president of Georgetown University, and Dr. Felix V. Matos Rodriguez, chancellor of the City University of New York (CUNY) — offered gaffe-free, deliberately worded answers to the members’ questions to avoid eliciting the kind of public relations ordeal which prematurely ended the tenures of two Ivy League presidents in 2024 following an education committee held in Dec. 2023.
Rep. McClain later criticized Lyons on social media, calling his comment “totally disgraceful.” She added, “Faculty must be held accountable and Jewish students deserve better.”
CUNY chancellor Rodriguez also triggered a rebuke from the committee members in which he was also described as a “disgrace.”
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, CUNY campuses have been lambasted by critics as some of the most antisemitic institutions of higher education in the United States. Last year, the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) resolved half a dozen investigations of antisemitism on CUNY campuses, one of which involved Jewish students who were pressured into saying that Jews are White people who should be excluded from discussions about social justice.
During Tuesday’s hearing Rodriguez acknowledged that antisemitic incidents continue to disrupt Jewish academic life, disclosing that 84 complaints of antisemitism have been formally reported to CUNY administrators since 2024. 15 were filed in 2025 alone, but CUNY, he said, has published only 18 students for antisemitic conduct. Rodriguez went on to denounce efforts to pressure CUNY into adopting the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, saying, “I have repudiated BDS and I have said there’s no place for BDS at the City University of New York.”
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) remarked, however, that Rodriguez has allegedly done little to address antisemitism in the CUNY faculty union, the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), which has passed several resolutions endorsing BDS and whose members, according to 2021 ruling rendered by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), discriminated against Professor Jeffrey Lax by holding meetings on Shabbat to prevent him and other Jews from attending them.
“The PSC does not speak for the City University of New York,” Rodriquez protested. “We’ve been clear on our commitment against antisemitism and against BDS.”
Later, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), whose grilling of higher education officials who appear before the committee has created several viral moments, rejected Rodriguez’s responses as disingenuous.
“It’s all words, no action. You have failed the people of New York,” she told the chancellor. “You have failed Jewish students in New York State, and it is a disgrace.”
Following the hearing, The Lawfare Project, legal nonprofit which provides legal services free of charge to Jewish victims of civil rights violations, applauded the education committee for publicizing antisemitism at CUNY.
“I am thankful for the many members of Congress who worked with us to ensure that the deeply disturbing facts about antisemitism at CUNY were brought forward in this hearing,” Lawfare Project litigation director Zipora Reich said in a press release. “While it is deeply frustrating to hear more platitudes and vague promises from CUNY’s leadership, we are encouraged to see federal lawmakers demanding accountability.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Huckabee Calls for Israeli Investigation Into ‘Criminal and Terrorist’ Killing of Palestinian-American in West Bank
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee on Monday urged Israeli officials to swiftly investigate the killing of Saif Musallet, a 20-year-old American citizen who was allegedly beaten to death by Israeli settlers while he was visiting family in the West Bank town of Sinjil.
“There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act,” Huckabee wrote on social media, in what is one of his strongest condemnations of Israeli settler violence since he was appointed by President Donald Trump in November 2024. “Saif was just 20 yrs old.”
Musallet, a Florida native, was reportedly attacked on July 11 by a group of Israelis while accompanying relatives on family-owned farmland near Ramallah. His family says he was severely beaten and denied medical attention for nearly three hours before succumbing to his injuries. Another Palestinian man, 23-year-old Mohammad al-Shalabi, was shot and killed during the same incident, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Israeli authorities said the violence followed an alleged rock-throwing incident that left two Israelis lightly wounded, a common occurrence in the West Bank which las left scores of Israelis civilians wounded and some killed. The Israel Defense Forces stated they used non-lethal crowd dispersal methods during the clash. The IDF says the incident is under investigation. Two Israeli minors were arrested following the attack, though according to Israeli media reports, neither of them is a murder suspect, and they were subsequently released to house arrest.
Musallet had traveled to the West Bank in early June to visit relatives and potentially meet a bride. Raised in Port Charlotte, Florida, he had recently co-founded an ice cream business in Tampa with his family. His death comes amid an escalation in settler-related violence across the West Bank, which has intensified since the October 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel and the Israeli military’s ongoing campaign in Gaza.
Huckabee has historically defended Israeli settlement activity and has vowed to serve as an unwavering defender of the Jewish state.
Human rights groups and local activists say Musallet’s killing is part of a growing pattern of impunity for attacks on Palestinians, including American citizens. No Israeli suspects have been indicted in several high-profile deaths of Palestinian Americans in recent years, including journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and teenager Omar Mohammad Rabea.
U.S. lawmakers, including Representative Kathy Castor (D-FL), who represents Tampa, joined calls for an investigation. The State Department said it is aware of the incident and is providing consular support to the family but deferred further comment to Israeli authorities.
Musallet’s funeral was held Sunday in his family’s hometown of al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya. His relatives say they are demanding justice not only for Saif, but for all Americans caught in what they describe as an increasingly lawless situation in the occupied West Bank.
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Scandal-Plagued UN Commission Disbands Amid Increasing US Pressure Against Anti-Israel International Organizations
Miloon Kothari, member of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, briefs reporters on the first report of the Commission. UN Photo/Jean Marc Ferré
The Commission of Inquiry (COI), a controversial United Nations commission investigating Israel for nearly five years, has collapsed after all three of its members abruptly resigned days after the United States sanctioned a senior UN official over antisemitism.
Commission chair Navi Pillay resigned on July 8, citing health concerns and scheduling conflicts. Her fellow commissioners, Chris Sidoti and Miloon Kothari, followed suit days later. While none of the commissioners directly linked their resignations to the U.S. sanctions, the timing suggests mounting American pressure played a decisive role.
The resignations came just one day before the Trump administration announced sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories. Albanese was sanctioned over what the State Department called a “pattern of antisemitic and inflammatory rhetoric.” She had previously claimed that the U.S. was controlled by a “Jewish lobby” and questioned Israel’s right to self-defense. The sanctions bar her from entering the U.S. and freeze any assets under American jurisdiction.
The resignations mark a major victory for critics who have long viewed the inquiry as biased and politically motivated.
Watchdog groups, including Geneva-based UN Watch, celebrated the swift collapse of the Commission of Inquiry (COI), which they say had long operated with an open mandate to target Israel. “This is a watershed moment of accountability,” said UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer. “The COI was built on bias and sustained by hatred. Its fall is a victory for human rights, not a defeat.”
The COI had faced heavy criticism since its formation in 2021. In July 2022, Commissioner Miloon Kothari, made comments about the undue influence of a so-called “Jewish lobby” on the media, said the COI would “have to look at issues of settler colonialism.”
“Apartheid itself is a very useful paradigm, so we have a slightly different approach, but we will definitely get to it,” he added.
The Commission was established in 2021 year following the 11-day war between Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas group in May. COI is the first UN commission to ever be granted an indefinite period of investigation, which has drawn criticism from the US State Department, members of US Congress, and Jewish leaders across the world.
Following the resignations, Council President Jürg Lauber invited member states to nominate replacements by August 31. However, it is unclear whether the commission will be reconstituted or quietly shelved. UN Watch and other groups have urged the council to disband the COI entirely, calling it irreparably biased.
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