Bob Vylan have criticised politicians and mainstream media for changing their stance on Gaza after the group were “villainised” for speaking out against Israel at Glastonbury 2025.
The rap punk duo made headlines at Glastonbury Festival this year for leading provocative chants of “free, free Palestine” and “death, death to the IDF” during their set. Bob Vylan have since clarified that they “are not for the death of Jews or Arabs or any other race or group”.
At the time, the group were criticised by swathes of the British mainstream press as well as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who called the chants “appalling”.
It came ahead of the PM issuing a statement on Thursday (July 24) that said that the ongoing “suffering and starvation unfolding in Gaza” is “unspeakable and indefensible” – a move which some perceived as a u-turn to his original stance.
The Prime Minister has been under increasing pressure from his most senior cabinet ministers and more than a third of MPs to take action on Gaza amid the international outcry over severe malnutrition among the civilian population.
Of the 74 malnutrition-related deaths in Gaza in 2025, 63 have occurred this month, including 24 children under five and one child over five, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
On Sunday (July 27), the WHO warned that malnutrition was “on a dangerous trajectory in the Gaza Strip, marked by a spike in deaths in July”.
Crowds at the West Holts stage as Kneecap perform at Glastonbury 2025. Credit: Andy Ford for NME
“Most of these people were declared dead on arrival at health facilities or died shortly after, their bodies showing clear signs of severe wasting,” it added.
WHO said the crisis was “entirely preventable” and condemned what it called the “deliberate blocking and delay of large-scale food, health, and humanitarian aid” by Israel.
In response to these figures, sections of the British press have also changed their stance on the conflict, with the right-wing leaning Daily Express notably featuring a splash with an image of a starving one-year-old child in Gaza, accompanied by the headline “for pity’s sake stop this now” last week.
Responding to this seemingly drastic change in attitude, frontman Bobby Vylan took to X/Twitter this morning to write: “Watching politicians and mainstream media suddenly change their rhetoric on the genocide makes me feel like I’ve truly gone crazy.
“Can someone please confirm that a few weeks ago they villainised us on the front pages for being against this while they were very much pro-genocide?”
He added: “I beg, we must never let them forget the stance they took and the damage they could have prevented, the lives they could have saved. We have to remind them every time they cross our path.”
I beg, we must never let them forget the stance they took and the damage they could have prevented, the lives they could have saved. We have to remind them every time they cross our path.
— Bob Vylan (@BobbyVylan) July 28, 2025
Israel, which controls the entry of all supplies to Gaza, has denied there is starvation in Gaza and rejected accusations of being responsible for food shortages.
Israel has been carrying out a full-scale military campaign on occupied Gaza in the nearly-two-years since the October 2023 attack by Hamas at the Israeli music festival Supernova, where 1,195 people were killed.
The UN has found Israel’s military actions to be consistent with genocide, and at least 59,821 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
The state of Israel strongly denies accusations of genocide and war crimes.
In the wake of Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury performance, the group have been dropped from Gogol Bordello support slots, and axed as headliners from Manchester’s Radar festival – to which the band promised: “Manchester, we will be back”. The police are also investigating their set to decide whether any offences have been made.
Many artists have chimed in on Bob Vylan’s remarks, with Massive Attack urging the media to instead “redirect their considerable news resource to reporting the truth of what is happening, daily, to the people of Gaza”. Wolf Alice similarly called the media outrage at Bob Vylan “a distraction technique”.
Bands also boycotted Radar festival in solidarity with Bob Vylan, with Hero In Error claiming that the festival “have been made scapegoats for the bigger issue”.
Chuck D of Public Enemy also came out in support of the band, explaining: “When people say death to a country, they’re not saying death to a people. They’re saying death to imperialism, death to colonialism.”
Crowds at the West Holts stage as Kneecap perform at Glastonbury 2025. Credit: Andy Ford for NME
“Bob Vylan ain’t got no tanks,” he continued. “They’re using words to say something must end. You can’t really kill nobody with a guitar or a microphone, but you could kill somebody with a drone and a fucking tank.”
However, Blur‘s Damon Albarn called the set “one of the most spectacular misfires I’ve seen in my life,” adding: “Especially when he started to goose-step in tennis gear. I mean I’ve had my moments — not quite as catastrophic as that but you do get carried away. The old testosterone gets you going. But it’s unfortunate. Everyone’s just so hysterical.”
In response, Bob Vylan fired back at Albarn calling him an “out of touch ’90’s musician” and affirming: “Your response should probably resemble something to the affect of: ‘Over 58k Palestinians killed since Oct 7th 2023. Over 700 killed while attempting to get aid. Over 1400 medical workers killed since Oct 7th.
“‘Genocide is being live streamed for all to see and the UK is not simply allowing it to continue but facilitating it, along with the United States. Why are we talking about a punk band?’ End.”
Hundreds of people have also called for the band to be dropped from Boardmasters 2025.
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