German police drop their travel ban case against Bob Vylan

German police have reversed a travel ban on Bobby Vylan, real name Pascal Robinson, frontman of the punk duo Bob Vylan, after denying him entry, briefly detaining him and sending him back to the UK when he arrived at Berlin Airport in June to see friends and collaborators. Police had cited the band's 2025 Glastonbury performance, during which Robinson led the crowd in chants of "death, death to the IDF" and "from the river to the sea, Palestine must be free."

A police report obtained by The Intercept claimed Robinson disseminated "antisemitic narratives and Hamas propaganda" that could "radicalise certain segments of the population," and described him as a "threat" to Germany's public security. Robinson called that "frankly absurd," adding, "it's equally absurd to claim that we spread propaganda on behalf of any proscribed organisation." He has also launched defamation proceedings against some of those who have accused him of antisemitism.

A UK police investigation into the Glastonbury comments led to no charges, and Dutch prosecutors reached the same conclusion after Robinson made similar comments onstage in the Netherlands. The Glastonbury controversy, broadcast live by the BBC, had already caused visa issues in the US and a number of cancelled shows for the band.

Bob Vylan's lawyers were preparing to challenge the German ban in court when police reversed it. "Once the police file was received it appeared there truly was no legal basis for denial of entry," the band said in a statement, calling the episode "another attempt to silence and intimidate those that oppose the ongoing genocide in Palestine."

The German case is one front in a wider legal response to the Glastonbury fallout. Bob Vylan sued Irish broadcaster RTE over its description of their chant as antisemitic, and in July filed a defamation lawsuit against the BBC in the Irish High Court, saying the broadcaster placed "labels" on the band that "did not, do not and never will fit." The band has said it hopes the litigation will remind the BBC of "the power of the people that they are attempting to silence." Bob Vylan are not alone in facing state pushback over pro-Palestine stage moments: Singapore separately barred two members of Massive Attack over a concert display earlier this month.