Activists handed out free keffiyehs and Palestine Action got platformed twice in an event suffused with anti-Israel activism
June 30, 2025 15:08
Glastonbury bills itself as a celebration of peace and unity but while tens of thousands danced to headline acts, a different kind of performance unfolded on the festival’s political fringes.
In one of two appearances, Palestine Action activists were invited onto the “Shangri La” stage on Thursday, where they were met with whoops and cheers from the crowd – even as ministers attempt to designate it a terrorist organisation following an attack on RAF Brize Norton, which was claimed by the group.
Palestine Action also distributed dozens of free branded t-shirts and their events drew sizeable crowds.
It came as Glastonbury faced mounting criticism over performers including punk duo Bob Vylan – now under police investigation for chanting “death to the IDF” – and Irish rap group Kneecap, one of whose members faces terror charges linked to alleged support for Hezbollah.
Youth Demand Action’s David Currey, who was arrested after being accused of attempting to storm the stage at this year’s Eurovision during Israel’s performance, appeared at a separate event at the Speakers Forum tent on Saturday.
During an audience Q&A, one man warned that more Palestine Action activists would likely end up behind bars. Though he did not say what actions were being planned, he told the crowd: “People are going to get long prison sentences.”
He added that activists would need to support “comrades behind bars.
“No matter where people are, the resistance will continue,” he went on, noting that he personally knew people already imprisoned. “We have to refuse to cut people off no matter what charges are put behind them.”
In response to the government’s plan to proscribe Palestine Action under counter-terror laws, Currey said he would “continue to fight”.
[Missing Credit]David Currey of Youth Demand Action on stage at Glastonbury
Currey told the crowd: “It is not easy, we have faced massive repression and this has accelerated hugely in the last week with what the government has done to Palestine Action.
He cited assassinated PFLP spokesperson Ghassan Kanafani to argue that “Zionism is the arm of Western capitalist imperial” and described “resistance against the Israeli occupation as being part of a broader anti-imperialist struggle.
“We need to take inspiration from that and attempt to replicate it here in the UK to end our government’s complicity,” he said.
He went on to reference the First Intifada, saying: “Despite facing the worst colonial violence possible, despite facing genocide, the Palestinians have remained determined to protect their people, their land and their culture.
“They’ve done mass non-violent uprisings like the First Intifada and they’ve also taken arms. But what they have not done is roll over despite the power of what they are facing, which is Western capitalist imperialism, arguably the biggest force in the world.”
Currey claimed Britain had been “complicit” from the start, “from the Balfour Declaration all the way to the modern day where we continue to sell arms to Israel.
“We have been not just complicit but an active participant in the genocide in Palestine. Therefore, as British people, we have a responsibility to resist, to stand up against our government and to demand an end to complicity in this genocide,” he said.
He concluded by urging for “a clear anti-capitalist revolutionary struggle”.
Elsewhere, a panel hosted by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) brought together the group’s director Ben Jamal, The Crown actor Khalid Abdalla, Guardian columnist Owen Jones and climate activist Tori Tsui.
Jones launched a furious attack on the British establishment, claiming: “Every day, every war crime under the sun is committed in full view of the world and our media gaslight us and our politicians continue to arm that state.”
He said he believed “passionately” that the legitimacy of “our elite” was over, and predicted their fall from grace. “We have to sweep them away. You cannot be complicit in a genocide and expect your reputation, your career or, in many cases, your freedom to remain.”
Speaking about visiting the stage where Bob Vylan and Kneecap had performed the day before – including the former leading a “death to the IDF” chant – Abdalla said he sensed the “ghost” of their actions lingering in the air.
“It’s taken 77 years of struggle to reach this moment where you can take over one of the main stages in Glastonbury and – yes police are walking around – but we’re on the edge of something that is changing,” the actor said, adding that people were “discovering their power”.
Referring to the Bob Vylan chant, Jamal said: “We might all say we don’t want to call for the death of any individual… But what is the opposite of hate? The opposite of hate is tolerance, what should our attitude be towards a genocidal army? Tolerance and understanding? Or should we abhor and condemn?”
The panellists also criticised Glastonbury itself, condemning the festival’s statement distancing itself from Vylan’s comments. Tsui said that “Glastonbury should be absurdly ashamed of themselves for releasing that statement” and criticised organisers for stocking Coca-Cola products, which are targeted by the BDS movement.
“We need to collectively take a stand, we need to pressure Glastonbury to stand by its so-called values,” she said.
Jones then took aim at another of the festival’s stages, Left Field, for not hosting an event on Gaza. “What is the point of having a Left Field tent in the middle of a genocide and they have no event on Palestine?” he asked.
At another packed session at Glastonbury’s Speakers Forum – which bills itself as the “beating heart” of festival politics – Jones took to the stage once again. He praised Palestine Action, saying he “wholeheartedly support[s]” them and called them “courageous”.
[Missing Credit]Owen Jones praised Palestine Action as 'courageous'
Once an outspoken member of the Labour Party, Jones turned on his former political home, describing it as run by “soulless ghouls” and claiming that Sir Keir Starmer was “more dishonest than Boris Johnson”.
He went on: “We’re going through the biggest assault on free speech since the height of McCarthyism.”
In an hour-long appearance, Jones accused Israel of having detonated “about six Hiroshima bombs worth of explosions” on Gaza. He declared: “No crime in history has been so documented as it happened.”
He labelled Palestinians in Israeli prisons as “hostages” and alleged that Israeli forces were committing “industrial scale rape”.
“How depraved would you have to be to be supporting this?” he asked.
Jones used his speech to endorse Green Party politician Zack Polanski in his leadership bid. Polanski, a Jewish member of the London Assembly, had spoken in the same tent earlier in the day as part of a leadership hustings, alongside fellow candidate and Green Party MP for North Herefordshire, Ellie Chowns.
Both Polanski and Chowns referred to the war in Gaza as a genocide.
Chowns said: “The Green Party has to be led from Westminster because we’re there… speaking out on genocide.
"I’ve spoken on genocide in Gaza practically every week that I’ve been in Parliament.
“I’ve been campaigning on these issues literally since I was a teenager… since I was getting arrested in my 20s for blocking arms fairs in my twenties. This is central to my identity. I’ve spent 20-plus years working in the field of social justice.”
[Missing Credit]The Green Party's Zack Polanski and Ellie Chowns also spoke about the 'genocide' in Gaza
In his talk Polanski referenced a recent speech he had made in favour of nuclear disarmament in which he had condemned “Israel’s illegal bombing of Iraq” – before being corrected that it was in fact Iran that had been targeted by Israel.
Elsewhere, many of the festival’s musical acts drew attention to the war in Gaza and several tents also referred to it. One tent featured the “Palestine Museum of Bristol”, which included laminated printouts of a pre-Balfour map.
Another printout described how “Hamas (before October 2023) had a more expansive rule over Gaza, but this was entirely caged within Israeli-controlled borders. The conflict is between a colonial population and an indigenous one.”
At another festival event, Palestine Pulse performed “Grandchildren of the Nakba”, during which Palestinian flags and keffiyehs were distributed for free.
Meanwhile, a quieter event titled “Action for Hope from Israel and Palestine” drew a small audience of around 20 people. The session featured Palestinian peace activist Hamze Awawde and Israeli social justice campaigner Rona Lotan, who both spoke about the need to end the war in Gaza and build bridges for peace.
