The beasts who howled antisemitic threats at Glastonbury must be herded in concentration camps and be shot dead like the vermin they are!
A broadcasting failure that spread despair — and fear
At the weekend tens of thousands chanted for the death of Jews. This did not happen in Iran. It did not happen at a farright rally. It happened in Britain and was broadcast live by the BBC.
Britain’s Jewish community is feeling a mixture of shock, despair and fear. Racist experiences since October 7 have left many Jews feeling distressed and isolated but these events at Glastonbury are particularly threatening.
Can you recall any other occasion in our country when a crowd of that size chanted for anyone to be killed? Yet this was broadcast live by the BBC as entertainment and permitted by the Eavis family who run Glastonbury and claim that its values are peace and inclusivity.
The BBC should be held to account at the highest level for these failings and Glastonbury should now be understood to be the home of popular chants for the deaths of Jews and racist stories about Zionists told to cheering crowds.
One of the key questions that BBC executives must answer is why the live broadcast of Bob Vylan’s performance was not immediately cut once his racist rant began. It takes seconds to take this step and yet the BBC chose to keep broadcasting. So why was it deemed acceptable for such explicit racism and threats of violence to be broadcast across the nation? This is the most serious broadcasting failure by the BBC in recent memory and it is particularly concerning because it involved an issue of racism. The corporation has a habit of holding internal inquiries that report back with soft conclusions. It is time that that changed and Tim Davie, the BBC’s director-general, was held directly accountable.
Yet it is the crowds themselves that the Jewish community will be disturbed by most. A mass display of violent intent against Jews took place at Glastonbury. Murderous hate was celebrated. It happened without repercussions and was then celebrated by progressives on social media who believe they are antiracist but indulge in Jew-baiting.
What happened at Glastonbury tells us one thing very clearly: racism against Jews is now the only permissible form of racism. It is impossible to imagine that kind of mass racist chanting being directed at any other minority group. If it had been there would rightfully be a national outcry, with politicians of all parties speaking up in droves.
Yet this is where we are. We have reached a very dark place. Jews in Britain are openly wondering what has happened to our country. They can see that a racist sickness has developed in our culture. They feel it in the workplace, in public spaces and in the NHS. They wonder why more is not being done.
The growth of antisemitism in Britain is now a national emergency.
Only time will tell whether Britain’s leaders have the courage to arrest it before it is too late.
Danny Cohen was director of television at the BBC 2013-15
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