LONDON: The BBC has asked senior staff overseeing music and events to step back from their duties amid a backlash over anti-Israel chants during Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury set, the broadcaster reported.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the BBC said that it would no longer live-broadcast musical performances deemed “high risk,” calling the editorial team’s decision not to cut the livestream “an error.”
During his act, the punk duo’s frontman, Bobby Vylan, chanted “Death, death to the IDF.” The BBC said that the band’s act was among the seven acts “deemed high risk” in advance and “suitable for live streaming with appropriate mitigations.”
“The team prioritized stopping the performance from featuring on-demand. This meant that no downloads of Bob Vylan’s set were available on iPlayer or Sounds,” the BBC said.
“However, the live feed, which was showing subsequent performances from other acts on the same Glastonbury stage, remained up until it was amended shortly after 8pm while teams worked on a technical solution.”
The broadcaster vowed to take action against “those found to be responsible for those failings in the live broadcast,” reiterating that there is “no place for antisemitism.”
British police said earlier this week that a criminal investigation was launched into the remarks at the festival in southwestern England.
The remarks drew controversy, with pro-Palestinian groups criticizing what they saw as selective outrage, highlighting the scrutiny over Bob Vylan’s chants against the IDF while atrocities in Gaza went largely unaddressed.
In a post on social media, Bob Vylan said: “We are not for the death of Jews, Arabs or any other race or group of people. We are for the dismantling of a violent military machine.”
The band noted that the backlash was “a distraction from the real story of the atrocities happening in Gaza. “Whatever sanctions we receive will be the distraction.”
The BBC has faced criticism from pro-Palestinian campaigners who accuse the broadcaster of pro-Israel bias in its coverage of the war in Gaza.
Last week, the BBC pulled the documentary “Gaza: Doctors Under Attack,” which featured first-hand accounts from Palestinian medical workers and investigated alleged attacks on hospitals and healthcare facilities in the enclave.
The broadcaster said that the decision was made because the film “risked creating a perception of partiality that would not meet the high standards that the public rightly expect of the BBC.”
