‘’This is not about silencing criticism of Israel, this is about silencing a proud and unbowed proponent of hate speech against Jews, in a very febrile and dangerous environment for Jewish communities across Europe,’’ said European Jewish Association Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin.

The European Jewish Association (EJA), a Brussels-based umbrella organization representing over 650 Jewish communities across Europe, has urged the organizer of a music festival in Belgium to cancel the appearance of Bob Vylan next week following the band’s controversials statements at the Glastonbury Festival in the U.K.

During the  performance of Bob Vylan, a group that combines punk rock with grime rap,  the duo shouted cries such as “Death, death to the IDF” (“Death, death to the Israeli army”) and “Free, free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea”. Behind them, political messaging referenced the “genocide”.

The British government has requested explanations from the festival’s organizers and the British public broadcaster BBC, which broadcast the concert. The British media regulator Ofcom is also demanding answers from the BBC.

British police have launched an investigation into the set. Glastonbury quickly distanced themselves from the band, while the BBC condemned this as “hate speech”. They have had visas for US revoked and have been dropped by their Talent agency.  They have also been dropped from numerous concerts across Europe.

However they are still on the list of performers at next week’s Rock Herk,  an annual alternative music festival in the Belgian municipality of Herk-de-Stad.

In a letter to Maarten Ruelens, the festival organizer, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Chairman of the European Jewish Association stressed that ‘’this is not about silencing criticism of Israel, this is about silencing a proud and unbowed proponent of hate speech against Jews, in a very febrile and dangerous environment for Jewish communities across Europe.’’

‘’You do not have to support Israel. You can, even if you choose to do so, support the Palestinian cause. We live in a democracy. But hate speech is entirely different. What Bob Vylan is doing is calling for murder,’’ Rabbi Margolin wrote.

He added, ‘’You are aware that antisemitism across Europe, and especially in Belgium, has exploded since the October 7 attack. Jews are assaulted, harassed, insulted and threatened daily for the war and their support for the world’s only Jewish State. That the word genocide, itself coined by a survivor of the Holocaust, is now turned against us and has entered the lexicon without foundation, means that every Jew is a target.’’

‘’Music is a tremendous force for good. It unites. It has power, and it can and should be political on occasion. But it must never be hateful, hurtful or a rallying cry for murder against Jews, or anyone else for that matter,’’ Margolin wrote, urging the Rock Herk festival organizer to cancel Bob Vylan’s performance.  ‘’Your choice, as binary and regrettable as it is, is to stand against hate speech, or give it a platform by legitimising Bob Vylan’s call to murder.’’