by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
LONDON/AMSTERDAM (Worthy News) – Britain and the Netherlands are reeling from antisemitic and anti-Israel sentiments expressed by leading artists at or before concerts, amid divisions in Europe over the ongoing war in Gaza.
In Britain, the tax-funded network BBC said it regrets not ending its live broadcast of a performance at the Glastonbury music festival over the weekend, as it included “utterly unacceptable” chants against Israel’s military.
The BBC stressed it should have cut short its streaming signal after punk-rap duo Bob Vylan started leading a chant of “Death, death to the IDF,” during their Saturday concert, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.
In response, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau announced that U.S. entry visas already issued to Bob Vylan’s members had been revoked “in light of their hateful tirade at Glastonbury, including leading the crowd in death chants.”
The band’s website shows more than a dozen scheduled tour dates in the U.S., from coast to coast, starting in late October. “Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,” Landau said in the post.
On Sunday, Bob Vylan posted a lengthy statement on their Instagram page, captioned: “I said what I said.”
Across the sea in the Netherlands, Dutch singer Douwe Bob told youngsters at a Jewish children’s soccer event in Amsterdam on Sunday that he would not perform for them because “Zionist propaganda” was being spread there.
“I was confronted by Zionist posters and pamphlets,” the singer repeated on Dutch television. “It’s outrageous that political organisations hijacked a children’s event. That’s why I left.”
‘NOT ANTISEMITIC’
Bob denied he was antisemitic, saying he performed last year at the Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam, the capital.
However, Ronny Naftaniel, a former chair of the nearby Amstelveen city branch of the Labour Party (PvdA) and, until his retirement, longtime director of the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI), disagreed.
He praised the leader of the conservative-liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), Dilan Yesilgöz, who lashed out at Bob on social media.
She wrote that “Children are being denied a show because of what they are: Jewish. (…) This is how normalised hatred for Jews has become. Pure hate, in plain sight.”
Douwe Bob said the post and others like it had led to him receiving “death threats.”He stressed it was painful to be called an anti-Semite, but experts say being against “Zionism” means being against a Jewish homeland.
The singer praised the leader of the conservative-liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), Dilan Yesilgöz, who lashed out at Bob on social media.
She wrote that “Children are being denied a show because of what they are: Jewish. (…) This is how normalised hatred for Jews has become. Pure hate, in plain sight.”
‘DEATH THREATS’
Douwe Bob said the post and others like him have received “death threats,” following his walking off stage.
He made clear it was painful to be called an anti-Semite, but experts say being against “Zionism” means being against a Jewish homeland.
“I admire your steadfastness. You are right to speak out clearly,” wrote Naftaniel in a post focused on Yesilgöz.
Glastonbury is one of the world’s largest music festivals, drawing over 200,000 ticket holders, and it generally takes place every other year, allowing the farm fields time to recover from the impact of so many revelers.
The Eavis family hosts and organizes the event. They still own the farm and have been running it for about 55 years.
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