Bob Vylan's Glastonbury set prompts BBC rethink on 'high-risk' live gigs

Britain's national broadcaster said on Thursday it would no longer broadcast or stream live any music gig deemed "high risk" following punk-rap duo Bob Vylan's chants against the Israeli military at Glastonbury, amid a flurry of pro-Israel condemnation in the UK.

The BBC, which broadcast the set, had already said it should have cut the stream from Bob Vylan's performance at the music festival on Saturday which included on-stage chants of "death, death to the IDF", a reference to Israel's military, which is currently engaged in a genocidal war on Gaza.

British police have since launched a criminal investigation for possible public order offences. Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the BBC for showing the performance, while media regulator Ofcom said the broadcaster had questions to answer.

The BBC has claimed that the chants were "antisemitic", a claim rejected by Bob Vylan, who said it was being targeted for "speaking up" about Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. 

Israel is increasingly being accused of committing genocide against Palestinians in the enclave, including by international rights groups, genocide scholars, and UN experts.

Most recently, Israeli soldiers admitted to Haaretz that they had been ordered to fire on desperate Palestinian civilians attempting to acquire aid in the enclave.

Publishing an apology to viewers on Thursday, it said it was taking action, including a policy change over live broadcasts of certain music acts.

"We deeply regret that such offensive and deplorable behaviour appeared on the BBC and want to apologise to our viewers and listeners and in particular the Jewish community," the BBC said in its latest statement.

Before Glastonbury, the BBC had identified Bob Vylan plus six other acts as being "high risk", it said.

Bob Vylan, known for mixing grime and punk rock, tackle a range of issues including racism, homophobia and the class divide in their songs and have previously voiced support for Palestinians.

Their lead vocalist, who goes by the stage name Bobby Vylan, appeared to refer to the weekend performance in a post on Instagram, writing: "I said what I said."

"Teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place," he added.

The duo's performance at Glastonbury was monitored, the BBC said, and although more senior staff members were alerted, the editorial team decided not to cut the feed, which the broadcaster claimed was a mistake.

"We are taking actions to ensure proper accountability for those found to be responsible for those failings in the live broadcast," the statement added.

The BBC itself has been accused of hypocrisy in its coverage of Israel's war on Gaza, with over 400 media figures calling on the BBC to replace board member Robbie Gibb for allegedly skewing coverage of the war.