When the BBC cut one band’s performance at Glastonbury to avoid controversy but accidentally live-streamed another shouting “Death to the IDF,” it triggered more than just outrage—it exposed a deep, uncomfortable truth. What followed was an Olympic-level spectacle of political pearl-clutching, media gaslighting, and state-level appeasement—not to protect British interests, but to shield a foreign army halfway across the globe from criticism. An army not under threat from missiles, but from music.
Bob Vylan’s explosive chant may have been unscripted, but its power lay in what it said out loud: that a genocidal army deserves to be condemned—not defended. The fury that ensued, from politicians, media pundits, and the police, has revealed just how far the British establishment will go to silence dissent against Israel. But far more important than the outrage is the truth buried beneath it: the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is not a moral army gone astray. It is, and always has been, a military force born of terrorism, rooted in ethnic cleansing, and now operating in Gaza with total impunity.
From Terror Gangs to National Army: The Criminal Origins of the IDF
Israel was declared a state on May 14, 1948. The IDF was officially formed just 12 days later. How did a newly created state manage to conjure up a full military in under two weeks? The answer is as uncomfortable as it is critical: it didn’t start from scratch—it absorbed Zionist paramilitary terror groups that had already been operating for decades under British Mandate Palestine. These included the Haganah, the Irgun, and Lehi (better known as the Stern Gang)—groups responsible for bombings, assassinations, massacres, and ethnic cleansing.
- The Haganah, formed in 1920, styled itself as a defensive force but led brutal offensives against Palestinian villages in the 1936–39 Arab Revolt. During the 1947–48 civil war in Palestine, it carried out Plan Dalet, aimed at depopulating Arab areas—leading directly to the Nakba, where over 750,000 Palestinians were expelled.
- The Irgun, a splinter group from the Haganah, openly embraced terrorism. In 1946, it bombed the King David Hotel, killing 91 people. In 1948, it took part in the infamous Deir Yassin massacre, where over 100 Palestinian villagers, including women and children, were murdered.
- Lehi, or the Stern Gang, took extremism to new levels. They reached out to Nazi Germany for support and assassinated the UN peace envoy Count Folke Bernadotte in 1948 for proposing the right of return for Palestinian refugees. One of its members, Yitzhak Shamir, later became Prime Minister.
These were not fringe actors. They became the nucleus of the IDF. Their leaders became Israeli prime ministers. Their tactics—village raids, targeted killings, psychological warfare—are enshrined in Israeli military doctrine to this day.
Gaza 2024–2025: Genocide in Real Time
Fast forward to 2025, and those founding principles have matured into the IDF’s current operation in Gaza. More than 16,000 Palestinian children have been killed in just eight months, according to figures verified by multiple humanitarian organizations. Civilian infrastructure has been decimated. Hospitals, schools, and refugee camps have been repeatedly bombed. Entire neighborhoods have been turned to rubble. Hunger and famine have been weaponized.
The Netzarim Corridor—a military passage cutting Gaza in half—is a kill zone. A complaint filed by the Hind Rajab Foundation with the International Criminal Court accuses IDF Brigadier General Yehuda Vash of creating this “free fire zone” where medics were executed, children targeted, and shelters flattened. The complaint says Vash acted with such impunity that even other Israeli soldiers voiced concerns. Yet he continues to serve—protected, not prosecuted.
This isn’t exceptional. This is policy. It’s the institutionalization of the very same ideology that shaped the Irgun, the Stern Gang, and Haganah. An ideology where Palestinian life is dispensable, and any criticism is recast as incitement or anti-Semitism.
A Chilling Silence—and Selective Outrage
Against this backdrop, the chant “Death to the IDF” should not be controversial. It should be a call to dismantle a war machine responsible for countless atrocities. And yet, Bob Vylan’s words have sparked police probes, media condemnation, and online censorship. Meanwhile, IDF soldiers post selfies on Instagram while dropping bombs. Musicians like David Draiman sign Israeli missiles with impunity. Israeli football crowds chant “Death to Arabs” without a whisper of scandal in the Western press.
But say “Death to the IDF”? Suddenly, it’s a national crisis. The BBC pulled Bob Vylan’s performance from iPlayer. Politicians across the aisle condemned it. Glastonbury organizers issued a statement. Bob Vylan’s artist page was scrubbed from ticketing platforms. Police opened investigations.
Kneecap, the Irish rap group also targeted by the BBC for their Palestine support, later said what many were thinking: this isn’t about safety or incitement. It’s about controlling the narrative. Protesting genocide is not terrorism. Condemning a murderous army is not hate speech.
And as Bob Vylan pointed out, no one would call it “hate” to chant “Death to ISIS” or “Death to the Taliban.” Yet when it comes to the IDF—an institution founded by literal terrorists and guilty of state-sanctioned massacres—it suddenly becomes taboo.
The Real Threat Isn’t Bob Vylan. It’s Silence.
The real threat is not artists on stage. It’s the normalization of a military entity that kills civilians en masse and is sheltered by global powers. Israel enjoys the unique privilege of committing war crimes with full-spectrum impunity—military, diplomatic, and media.
The UK government is complicit. So is the BBC. So are the institutions that suppress artists rather than amplify cries for justice. So are those who pretend that “Death to the IDF” is hate speech, while quietly ignoring the mountains of corpses in Gaza.
“Death to the IDF” is not a call for the death of people. It is a cry against genocide. It is a demand to dismantle an institution built on ethnic cleansing and state terror. It is a moral statement in an immoral time.
The roots of the IDF are soaked in blood. Its branches have only grown more violent. The world should not be silencing those who call it out. It should be standing with them.
Because the real danger isn’t protest—it’s silence. And the real scandal isn’t what was shouted at Glastonbury. It’s what the IDF continues to do every single day in Gaza.
