UK chief rabbi criticizes BBC for ‘airing of vile Jew-hatred at Glastonbury,’ says it’s ‘a time of national shame’

1 July 2025, 2:46 pm

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Britain's Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, addresses the crowd during a 'Vigil for Israel,' opposite the entrance to Downing Street, in London, October 9, 2023. (HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)

Britain’s chief rabbi criticizes the BBC for airing a Glastonbury arts festival performance that saw the crowd chanting “death to the IDF” as a moment of “national shame.”

“The airing of vile Jew-hatred at Glastonbury and the BBC’s belated and mishandled response, brings confidence in our national broadcaster’s ability to treat antisemitism seriously to a new low,” writes Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis on X.

“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,” he writes.

“Toxic Jew-hatred is a threat to our entire society.”