LONDON — Donald Trump’s ambassador to the U.K. on Monday joined mounting criticism of a “death to the IDF” chant which took place at Britain’s Glastonbury music festival over the weekend.
Warren Stephens, the U.S. ambassador to the U.K., hit out at the “antisemitic” chant against the Israel Defense Forces. It was kicked off by punk act Bob Vylan during the weekend festival, and broadcast live on the BBC.
“The antisemitic chants led by Bob Vylan at Glastonbury were a disgrace,” he said on X Monday. “There should be no place for this hateful incitement or tolerance of antisemitism in the U.K.”
The row has already heaped cross-party pressure on the BBC, Britain’s publicly-funded broadcaster. On Sunday night, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the BBC “needs to explain” why the “appalling hate speech” was broadcast.
The corporation has since admitted it should have pulled the broadcast.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan — who has been sharply critical of Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza — warned Monday that the chants would not help people in Gaza or the West Bank.”
“It’s possible to be critical — as I am — of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and [the] IDF while recognising Jewish people feel very scared and distinguish between them,” he told LBC Radio.
Opposition politicians have already been piling in. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said Vylan was “inciting violence and hatred” and even suggested the BBC should be prosecuted for broadcasting the footage.
A spokesperson for the BBC said Monday afternoon that the organization would look again at its editorial guidelines so staff knew when output could remain on air.
They said in a statement: “The antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves. We welcome Glastonbury’s condemnation of the performance.”
The broadcaster said its team had been “dealing with a live situation but with hindsight we should have pulled the stream during the performance. We regret this did not happen.”
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