Dutch Authorities Rule Bob Vylan’s Comments ‘Death to the IDF,’ ‘F–k Zionists’ Are Not Criminally Punishable
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Bob Vylan music duo performance at Glastonbury Festival (Source: FLIKR)
The Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) has ruled that comments made by the British punk rap duo Bob Vylan during a concert in September, in which they called for violence against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Zionists, are not punishable by law.
The OM wrote on its website on Wednesday that it dismissed charges against Bob Vylan “after a careful investigation” into four offensive statements made by the band during a concert in Amsterdam’s Paradiso music hall on Sept. 13.
“Although they may be perceived as provocative and harsh, they do not constitute group defamation, incitement to hatred or discrimination, or incitement according to the Public Prosecution Service,” the OM said. “The question of whether a statement is inappropriate or reprehensible is not taken into consideration by the Public Prosecution Service.”
During the concert in September, Bob Vylan lead singer Bobby Vylan, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, shouted “Death, death to the IDF.” He also encouraged audience members to “fight” Zionists.
“F–k Andy, f–k the fascists, f–k the Zionists,” he proclaimed. “Get out there and fight them. Get out there and meet them in the streets. Get out there and let them know that you do not f–king stand by them. Do you understand me?”
In the same show he told the crowd: “But sometimes, sometimes you also have to represent kicking a Nazi in the f–king face!” He also mentioned conservative activist and pro-Israel advocate Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot the prior week in Utah.
“Because if you talk s–t, you will get banged. Rest in peace, Charlie Kirk, you piece of s–t,” Robinson-Foster said from the stage.
The OM said Dutch police received “dozens of reports about the concert,” and 35 organizations and private individuals pressed charges against Bob Vylan. The Public Prosecution Service concluded, however, that none of the four assessed statements contain incitement to violence.
“Although the statements are provocative and harsh in tone, the Prosecution Service interprets them as calls for activism and political involvement, which fit with the expressive and confrontational style of the punk genre,” the OM explained.
The OM noted that for something to be punishable under Dutch discrimination law, there needs to be “actual incitement to hatred or violence against a group of people on the grounds of, among other things, their race or religion.”
The Public Prosecution Service said it’s not clear that Bob Vylan’s comments about Zionists “implicitly refer to Jewish people as a group,” but merely reference Zionism as a “political movement and ideology.” The four statements therefore “do not contain punishable discrimination,” according to the Public Prosecution Service. All parties that pressed charges have been notified by the office about its decision and can file a complaint with the court of appeals if they object.
The Central Jewish Consultation (CJO), an umbrella organization of Jewish groups in the Netherlands, said it will appeal the OM’s decision, and CJO’s Chairman Chanan Hertzberger described the ruling as “lax,” according to NL Times.
The CJO tried to cancel Bob Vylan’s performance in the Dutch city of Nijmegen on Sept. 15 through a court order and the band’s Sept. 16 concert at Poppodium 013, a club in Tilburg, The Netherlands. A judge allowed the Sept. 15 concert to proceed, but the venue for the Sept. 16 concert canceled the show because of the band’s controversial remarks in Amsterdam.
The Center for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI), which filed a complaint following Bob Vylan’s “Death to the IDF” comments, said the organization is looking into potential legal action after the OM’s ruling, NL Times added.
Robinson-Foster first proclaimed “death, death to the IDF” from on stage during the Glastonbury Festival in Somerset, England, in June. During a recent podcast interview, he said he does not regret saying the anti-IDF remark.
He is “not regretful of it at all,” the musician said, adding that he “would do it again tomorrow, [and] twice on Sundays.” Robinson-Foster also called “death to the IDF” a “perfect chant.” He further insisted in a post on X that there “was nothing antisemitic or criminal about anything I said at Glastonbury.”
After the September concert in Amsterdam, Robinson-Foster posted a video on social media in which he denied celebrating Kirk’s murder. “At no point whatsoever did we celebrate Charlie Kirk’s death,” he said. “I did call him a piece of s–t. That much is true. But at no point was his death celebrated.” The singer did not address the anti-Zionist remarks.
