The visa for Bob Vylan and his group of the same name was withdrawn "due to their hate-filled tirade at Glastonbury, including leading the audience in death chants", said the Foreign Department's deputy secretary Christopher Landau in a statement. "Foreigners who glorify violence and hate are not welcome as visitors in our country", Landau added.
The frontman Bob Vylan led the Glastonbury festival audience on Saturday in chants such as "free, free Palestine" and "death, death to the IDF" (Israel Defense Forces).
Bob Vylan, who has a planned US tour starting in October, commented on the controversy on Instagram and wrote that the duo had become targets because they expressed support for Palestine. They wrote, among other things, "We are not for the killing of Jews, Arabs or any people. We are for dismantling a violent military machine. A military that has been instructed to use unnecessary deadly violence against innocent civilians who have sought support. A machine that has destroyed much of Gaza".
Now Bob Vylan has also been cancelled from a number of planned festival performances in the near future. Radar festival in Manchester, where the group was to play on Saturday, has cancelled the performance. As has the Kave Fest festival in France, according to BBC.
