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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Entertainment
Sam Wolfson

Who are Bob Vylan? The British punks who had their US visas revoked for anti-IDF chants

Person dives into crowd at music festival
Bobby Vylan, the band’s frontman, with the crowd at Glastonbury. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

Until this week, the punk-rap duo Bob Vylan were largely unknown by mainstream audiences, despite having a UK top 20 album and an award from British rock magazine Kerrang! for album of the year. Now they’ve made headlines around the world after frontman Bobby Vylan led a crowd at Glastonbury in chants of “death, death to the IDF”.

The chant was met with widespread condemnation in the UK. Glastonbury festival said the remarks “crossed a line” and characterized the chant, which targeted the Israel Defense Forces, as antisemitic. Keir Starmer, the prime minister, said the chant was “appalling” and said groups “making threats or inciting violence” should not be given a platform.

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