The BBC’s Shame: Broadcasting ‘Death to the IDF’

Punk Hip-Hop Dup Tacitly Calls for the Death of Seven Million Jews. The BBC Is Complicit
I won’t be writing overlong about a certain Punk Hip-Hop duo whose name I won’t mention—why advertise for them?—but whose moniker has been co‑opted, clumsily and smugly (as if by a seventh grader trying to sound deep), from one of the world’s most beloved Jewish songwriters. Nor will I spend too much time noting that the duo’s lead singer, flexing conspicuous abs, pecs, and biceps—let’s call him Mr. Pecs—might do well to spend less time pumping iron and more time studying the moral and geopolitical realities Israel faces.
As for their music—music appreciation is subjective. Mr. Pecs can certainly shout in rough alignment with the drummer, and many seem to find that compelling. Good for them. Musicians… What can you say, right?
But I won’t let pass the scene on the West Holts “peace” stage at Glastonbury Festival, where thousands roared approval as Mr. Pecs launched into some of the most dangerous on-stage rhetoric heard on British soil in many decades.
This wasn’t a technical oversight. It was a moral collapse. This wasn’t a fringe stream. It was state-funded media—taxpayer-funded media—handing the mic to a man tacitly calling for Jewish genocide. All in the name of “coverage.
He began with chants of “Free, free Palestine,” a cry repeated several times, stoked by jumbo-screen visuals declaring, “Free Palestine. The United Nations have called it a genocide. The BBC calls it a conflict.” Then came the next refrain: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, inshallah.” A phrase that, for those paying attention, is not a call for peace—but for the erasure of Israel.
But that still wasn’t enough.
Finally, he brought the chant to its most grotesque crescendo: “Death, death, to the IDF.” Shouted five times. With rhythmic venom. Live on BBC iPlayer.
Let’s pause right there.
The Israel Defense Forces are not an abstract entity. Comprised of courageous and devoted young Jewish, Arab, Christian, and Druze men and women, they are the living shield between seven million Jewish civilians—men, women, and children—and a fate too horrifying to fully comprehend. That fate came into vivid focus on October 7, when Hamas terrorists massacred families, raped women, burned children alive, and kidnapped infants and the elderly.
Without the IDF, that slaughter would not merely be possible—it would be inevitable.
So let’s be clear: when Mr. Pecs incites the crowd to chant “Death to the IDF,” he is not merely protesting military policy. He is calling for the death of those soldiers—and by extension, for the extermination of the Jews they protect. That’s seven million people. One million more than were murdered in the Holocaust. And the crowd cheered.
They didn’t flinch. They didn’t walk out. They screamed it back at him like it was the chorus of some freedom anthem. It wasn’t. It was genocidal incitement, dressed in punk rebellion. That most couldn’t see the difference—or didn’t care—is horrifying. And it didn’t stop there.
Earlier in the set, Mr. Pecs turned his fury toward a specific individual—an executive in the music industry—calling him a “bald-headed c- -t.” It’s worth noting that this target, too, is Jewish. His rage, in other words, wasn’t just political. It was personal. It was specific. It was the very antithesis of peace.
And then there’s the BBC.
A broadcaster that claims to be a pillar of journalistic integrity—and has long shown a quiet but consistent bias against Israel—streamed this performance live. Not in retrospect. Not with disclaimers. In real time. There was no editorial decision to cut the feed. No sense of alarm. Just a tepid on-screen warning about “very strong and discriminatory language.”
This wasn’t a technical oversight. It was a moral collapse. This wasn’t a fringe stream. It was state-funded media—taxpayer-funded media—handing the mic to a man tacitly calling for Jewish genocide. All in the name of “coverage.”
The BBC may say it was about free speech. Or “reflecting what was happening on stage.” Or they’ll chalk it up to a lapse in due diligence. But none of that explains why this moment was aired at all. None of it justifies the amplification of this pernicious anti-Jewish hatred.
Meanwhile, Mr. Pecs will carry on. He’ll lift more weights, scream some new battle cry, and play to more crowds who mistake fury for insight. For now perhaps, that may be his right.
But for the rest of us—especially Jews who know all too well what history has done with words like these—the damage is already done.
And the BBC? They didn’t just let it happen.
They went and broadcast it to the world.