Bob Vylan, ‘Death to the IDF,’ and All Those Cancellations

Bob Vylan’s lead singer, one Pascal Robinson-Foster, who at the recent Glastonbury Festival wooed the crowd with his own entry in the Hate Israel sweepstakes, which was his chant of “Death to the IDF,” a chant that was then taken up by the enthusiastic crowd, has discovered that as a result of his anti-Israel posturing, there are consequences to his career that he did not anticipate. More on Bob Vylan and the cancellation of so many of the punk-rap group’s appearances can be found here: “Hundreds Demand Bob Vylan Be Dropped From UK Festival After Leading ‘Death to IDF’ Chants at Glastonbury,” by Shiryn Ghermezian, Algemeiner, July 25, 2025:

Hundreds of people are urging officials in the United Kingdom to ban the punk-rap duo Bob Vylan from performing at the upcoming Boardmasters music festival in Cornwall after they led an anti-Israel chant at the Glastonbury music festival last month.

Bob Vylan lead singer Pascal Robinson-Foster stirred controversy by leading thousands in the crowd to chant “death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]” and “free, free Palestine” during the band’s Glastonbury performance on June 28, which was televised live by the BBC. He also complained on stage about working for a “f—king Zionist” during the set at the event in Somerset, England.

Because of their actions, the London-based band has been dropped by festivals and concerts worldwide as well as their talent agency. They had their US visas revoked ahead of their American tour and police in the UK launched an investigation into the band, to see if their comments amounted to a criminal offense, including ones related to a hate crime. Their anti-IDF comments were condemned by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Glastonbury organizers, and the BBC issued a public apology for live streaming Bob Vylan’s “offensive and deplorable behavior.”

It’s been one blow after another to Bob Vylan. Their visas for the US have been revoked; they will no longer be able to perform in the highly remunerative American market. The BBC, still smarting from the criticism it received for continuing to broadcast their act after they had chanted “Death to the IDF,” is unlikely to broadcast them again. Their own talent agency has dropped them. They have had their act cancelled at festivals and concerts worldwide. They are under investigation by the UK government for possible “hate crimes,” which — given the chant “Death to the IDF” — should not be hard to prove.

Bob Vylan [the group of two] have since explained that that they “are not for the death of Jews or Arabs or any other race or group.”

Bob Vylan is “not for the death of Jews,” but then what are we to make of the group’s main singer yelling out “Death, death to the IDF?”

In light of the Glastonbury incident, councilors on the Cornwall Council, the licensing authority for the Boardmasters music festival in Cornwall, has received almost 300 formal complaints from members of the public, asking for Bob Vylan to be banned from the festival taking place from August 8-10, according to CornwallLive. Cornwall Councillor Dulcie Tudor publicly spoke about councilors receiving hundreds of complaints in a Facebook post on July 18. “Personally I would not spend any of my money to watch a band that called for the death of anyone,” Tudor wrote.

“It’s got to be the most concerted campaign I’ve seen since being on the council,” Tudor also told CornwallLive. “It’s more than the most controversial planning application.”

That is heartening. Sane voices — hundreds of them — are now demanding that Bob Vylan be banned from Boardmasters. All is not lost, after all, even in what Robert Spencer calls “shattered, staggering, dhimmi Britain.”

The council is due to hold a licensing hearing following a complaint received on July 16, which called on the authority to review the festival’s license in light of the band’s scheduled appearance. However, due to licensing hearing regulations, including a 20-day consultation period, the hearing will not take place until after the band’s performance at Boardmasters on Aug. 10, according to the BBC.

In other words, Bob Vylan will, alas, be able to perform at Boardmasters in Cornwall, before the case against the appearance of the two-man group can be heard. Boardmasters, meanwhile, said: “We do not tolerate hate speech.”

How nice to learn that Boardmasters does “not tolerate hate speech.” But it is happy to have Bob Vylan perform the act that first started this craze of calling for “Death, death to the IDF.” And even without the Bob Vylan repeating the chant on stage, the audience at Boardmasters will likely, in tribute to them, utter the homicidal chant themselves, without any need for prompting from Bob Vylan.

They have, however, told Bob Vylan to watch what they say. In other words, no more “Death to the IDF” yells from the stage. What do you think is the likelihood that Bob Vylan will be able to hold back?

Bob Vylan has seen the welcome mat pulled out from under them. They have lost their agent. They can’t perform in the US, a vast potential market now lost, possibly forever. Festivals and concerts in the U.K. and around Europe have cancelled their invitations to the group, or not extended them in the first place. Boardmasters is one of the very few festivals — perhaps the only one — where the two-man group can appear, and that, too, might have been cancelled had the reviewing process not taken so much time, lasting longer than the Festival itself. It’s a cautionary tale for every other musical group tempted to pile another log on the antisemitic bonfire. Go ahead, and like Bob Vylan, now sounding an entirely unconvincing note of remorse; your careers will suffer.