London — The BBC has said it regrets not pulling down its live stream of a performance at the Glastonbury music festival over the weekend that included what the broadcaster calls "utterly unacceptable" chants against Israel's military.The taxpayer-funded BBC said in a statement Monday that it regrets not cutting short its live streaming signal after punk-rap duo Bob Vylan started leading a chant of "Death, death to the IDF," during their Saturday performance, referring to the Israel Defense Forces."The BBC respects freedom of expression but stands firmly against incitement to violence," the statement from the broadcaster said."The antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves...
The [BBC broadcasting] team were dealing with a live situation but with hindsight we should have pulled the stream during the performance.We regret this did not happen."The BBC, which is CBS News' partner network in the U.K., quickly acknowledged that the language used on Saturday was "deeply offensive," but the network was criticized — including by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and members of his cabinet —— for not reacting more quickly after the chant started.Glastonbury festival's organizers also condemned the chant in a statement, saying: "Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence."On Sunday, Bob Vylan posted a lengthy statement on their Instagram page, with the caption: "I said what I said." The duo, who use stage names and keep their identities anonymous, said their message was aimed at younger generations, whom they said should be shown how to fight for their own futures."Let us display to them loudly and visibly the right thing to do when we want and need change," the band said.
"Let them see us marching in the streets, campaigning ...