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Punk duo frontman of Bob Vylan has expressed he is "not regretful" about his "anti-IDF chant" act at Glastonbury and declared he would "repeat it tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

Controversial Exclamation and Political Responses

The vocal punk pair sparked widespread debate when they led crowd chants of "down with the IDF," referring to the Israel Defense Forces, during their summer performance. This chant was condemned by festival organizers and Britain's leader the prime minister, who described it as "appalling hate speech."

After the incident, the band was released by its representation United Talent Agency, and the US state department cancelled the members' visas, compelling them to cancel a planned US and Canada tour.

Interview with Louis Theroux

During his initial public discussion after the festival show, the musician, whose birth name is Pascal Foster, conversed on a popular podcast. When questioned if he would repeat his actions, he responded:

"Absolutely. For instance what if I was to perform at Glastonbury again tomorrow, definitely I would repeat it. I'm not regretful of it. I'd do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

The artist noted that the criticism the duo encountered was "small compared to what individuals in Palestine are going through."

Regarding the Protest's Significance

"I don't want to overstate the importance of the chant," he elaborated. "It isn't what I'm attempting to do, but if I have their support, they're the individuals that I'm advocating for, they're the people that I'm speaking up for, then what is there to regret? Oh, because I've upset some conservative politician or some rightwing media?"

Surprising Reaction and Broadcaster Feedback

The musician claimed he was surprised by the outcry sparked by the exclamation, and asserted that members of the broadcaster staff at the event told him on the day that the performance was "fantastic."

However, the broadcaster's ECU subsequently found that the BBC's airing of the performance breached content standards in relation to harm and offence.

Vylan told Theroux there was no indication of a dispute in the moment: "It didn't feel like we left stage, and everybody was like [gasps]. It's just normal. We come off stage. It was normal. No one thought anything. Nobody. Including crew at the broadcaster were like 'It was fantastic! We enjoyed that!'"

Reply to Blur Frontman

The musician also hit back at Damon Albarn, who called the protest "a major misstep I've witnessed in my life" and described Vylan as "goose-stepping in tennis gear."

His comment was "letdown" and "showed no self-awareness," Vylan remarked.

"I just want to say that labeling it as a 'huge mistake' implies that in some way the politics of the duo or our position on Palestine's freedom is unplanned," he explained.

"I strongly object with the phrase 'marching' being used because it's only used around Nazi Germany," he continued. "Precisely. And for him to use that language, I think is disgusting. I think his answer was appalling."

Intent Behind the Chant

When questioned what he meant by the phrase "Death to the IDF," Vylan said the chant itself was "insignificant."

"What is important is the situation that persist to allow that chant to even take place on that stage. And I mean, the conditions that are present in the region. In which the local population are being slain at an disturbing rate. Who cares about the slogan?" he stated.

"Death to the IDF rhymes," he added: "Stop the IDF' does not rhyme, wouldn't have spread, right? … We are there to perform. We are there to sing songs. I am a lyricist. 'The chant' rhymes. Perfect chant."

Denial of Antisemitism Claims

The musician also rejected assertions from the CST, a monitoring and Jewish community safety organisation, that their set led to a spike in anti-Jewish events reported later.

"I believe I have caused an unsafe environment for the Jewish people. Suppose there were large numbers of individuals acting and going like 'We made me do this'. I could go, oh, I've had a negative impact here," he commented.

Comparison with Different Artists

When Vylan mentioned he felt the band had been criticised more heavily than others for voicing views about the conflict, the host brought up the Irish group Kneecap, who have likewise faced criticism for their method to pro-Palestinian advocacy.

"That's an interesting one," Vylan said, "because as with everything ethnicity comes to play a part in that we are an more convenient target, no pun intended, than others are because we are already the enemy."