EDITORIAL: When music becomes an instrument of hate

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Usually, the sensible response adults should have to punk rockers who make outrageous statements on stage is to yawn and tell ourselves they’ll grow out of it.

However, when controversial acts with a history of antisemitism are given airtime at one of the largest music festivals in the world, and when that performance is livestreamed by the BBC, it cannot be swept aside as the rant of ignorant youth.

Last weekend, the punk duo Bob Vylan, whose lead singer goes by the name of Bobby Vylan (real name Pascal Robinson-Foster), appeared at the U.K.’s Glastonbury festival, leading the audience in a chant of, “Death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces),” and other slogans advocating for the destruction of Israel.

BBC director-general Tim Davie is under pressure to resign for allowing the continued livestream of the performance. Bob Vylan was followed by the Irish rap group Kneecap, one member of which was previously arrested on a terrorism-related charge for waving the flag of Hezbollah, deemed a terror group in both the U.K. and Canada.

Britain’s Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, posted on X, “This is a time of national shame,” and slammed the BBC’s livestream.

“It should trouble all decent people that now, one need only couch their outright incitement to violence and hatred as edgy political commentary, for ordinary people to not only fail to see it for what it is, but also to cheer it, chant it and celebrate it. Toxic Jew hatred is a threat to our entire society.”

Those words are a warning for Canada. The U.S. has revoked visas for an upcoming Bob Vylan tour. They don’t have performances booked in this country. Kneecap, however, has two performances planned in Toronto for October.

Immigration officials and police must be vigilant and follow the precedent that those who advocate violence or terror are not allowed into this country. Yes, we are a nation that supports freedom of speech. That includes the right to be disgusting, disgraceful and offensive. It does not include the right to call for the death of any religious minority or support for a terror group.

We don’t need to import hatred. We have enough of the homegrown variant already.

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