Glastonbury is not the story, Palestine is

As another week passes without justice for Palestine, the world has found another thing to complain about instead of focusing on the main issue at hand.

What is the distraction this time? Artists performing at Glastonbury.

Music and politics have always gone hand in hand. You can’t escape it. Some of the best pieces of work ever have stemmed from the political climate at the time.

So you would think artists getting on stage and speaking their minds would be an uneventful affair.

It was anything but.

It all started with Irish rap group Kneecap. The group has dominated the headlines this year for their continued support for Palestine. Their unwavering support has even landed one of the members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, a trip to court after he was accused of displaying a flag of the organisation Hezbollah.

They were due to perform at Glastonbury on the Saturday, which they did. Yet, you probably wouldn’t have known that because the BBC decided not to air their set.

It actually took a Welsh TikToker, Helen (@helenwilsonwales on TikTok), to show the group's set live for people to see it, until it was eventually posted on BBC iPlayer.

Naturally, the silencing of the band did not go down well with fans. It also only further proved what people had suspected about the BBC’s reporting of the on-going war and that they have a bias towards Israel.

What the BBC failed to realise is that Kneecap are not the only people who are willing to put their careers at stake for Palestine.

The set before Kneecap were due to perform was punk-rap duo Bob Vylan, and they were not going to let their chance of being broadcast to the nation go to waste.

The Palestine flags, which stood tall on stage and in the crowd, set the scene for what was going to be a defiant set.

While performing, the screen behind the group read “Free Palestine. The United Nations has called it a genocide, the BBC calls it a “conflict”.

If the BBC hadn't already pressed the panic button by this point, Vylan getting the crowd to chant “Death, Death to the IDF” definitely would have.

This has sparked mass controversy. The BBC are not happy, Glastonbury themselves were not pleased and judging by the fact their visa has been revoked, neither is America.

He wasn’t the only one to speak out about the injustice. Kneecap, despite not being aired live, made their feelings known about the war and Prime Minister Keir Starmer. As you could imagine, he is not very happy about it.

Many other artist throughout the three days made sure to show their support for Palestine. And a special shout-out to Loyle Carner, who hit out at Nigel Farage.

What the artists have done is great, and it should have been the springboard to larger conversations about the war and, mainly, finding a way to stop it.

But it hasn’t. Instead, the powerful scenes of artists and fans standing together for Palestine have been diluted to talking points for people on Twitter - Or X, but I refuse to call it that - to bicker about.

Instead of strides to put an end towards the war, it is being used as an excuse to spew hate. When we should be holding people accountable, we are villainising artists who are speaking their minds, as is their right. And the plea for peace has turned to whether Vylan should be allowed a Visa for the United States.

The conversation shouldn’t be about what the artists did. It shouldn't be about Keir Starmer’s response. It definitely shouldn’t be about what right-wing losers who spend all their time getting angry on Twitter about basic human decency.

The story should be about Palestine and the help the people need. But once again they have been pushed to the side and left unheard.

Don’t let anyone forget that.