MPs and Jewish leaders have called for the punk-rap duo Bob Vylan’s forthcoming Manchester gig to be called off.
The Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester (JRC) – in a letter backed by 10 MPs – has urged Manchester Academy to cancel the 5 November show.
Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury set, which included chants of “Death to the IDF”, was broadcast live on the BBC in June. The band – who deny allegations of antisemitism – were subsequently dropped from Manchester’s Radar festival in July, but plan to visit the city next month on their We Won’t Go Quietly tour.
The JRC first called for November’s Bob Vylan gig to be cancelled last month. After Jihad al-Shamie attacked Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Manchester on Thursday, leaving two worshippers dead and three other people injured, demands to stop the concert have increased. Shamie, 35, was shot dead by police at the scene.
In a statement backed by politicians including the Greater Manchester Labour MPs Navendu Mishra, Jo Platt, Graham Stringer, Christian Wakeford and Paul Waugh, the JRC said it was “deeply concerned by Manchester Academy’s decision to host Bob Vylan”, saying the band’s “statements and actions do not provoke debate but carry a real danger”.
“There is a vital distinction between legitimate criticism of the Israeli government and speech that veers into antisemitism,” the statement added. “We call on the Manchester Academy to cancel the performance and commit to clear policies to ensure that it will not legitimise prejudice under the guise of freedom of speech.”
The JRC chief executive, Marc Levy, whose father, Alan Levy, was among congregants at the synagogue who barricaded the doors to stop the attacker getting inside, said freedom of expression had to be balanced with the safety of a Jewish community under threat.
He said: “[Heaton Park] is my synagogue, I have grown up there, my kids have grown up there, and people who I’ve known all my life now have this sadness in their eyes.
“The worst thing is that the attack was inevitable. It was inevitable because you have individual venues prepared to give a platform to artists like Bob Vylan who talk about ‘hunting down Zionists’ and ‘death to the IDF’.
“We understand the need for freedom of expression, but we can’t be having people like that performing on our streets.”
Manchester Academy has been approached for comment.
