Former Pink Floyd band member, Roger Waters, has continued with his anti-Israel tirades while performing in his UK tour. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has now called for his upcoming concerts to be cancelled.
Roger Waters has a long history of hating Israel, but this often spills over into antisemitism. And as a result, there have been calls from politicians for venues to cancel his shows.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer wrote: “The Labour Party stands with the Jewish community and fully condemns Roger Waters.
“Many people will think of Roger Waters as famous for being a member of one of the most important bands in history, but he is now more synonymous with spreading deeply troubling antisemitism and that is why I believe this show should not be allowed to go ahead.
“Views like this should not be given a platform.”
Conservative MP, Michael Gove, who is the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, did not call for his shows to be cancelled, but said: “The Government is clear that everyone has a clear and fundamental right to freedom of speech and artistic expression, so long as they remain within the boundaries set by law.
“There is also a societal expectation placed on people with a significant public profile to behave responsibly and not abuse their platform.
“This is an expectation of which Roger Waters is reportedly falling short.”
He also last night accused a British MP, Christian Wakefield, who had opposed Waters, of being under the control of the “foreign office in Tel Aviv”, meaning that Israel controls British politicians. Something that is straight up absurd. He also used derogative language, calling him a “cripple”.
At a performance at London’s O2 arena on Tuesday night, Waters said, “You [Wakeford] were making s**t up because you were told to by your masters in the Foreign Office in Tel Aviv because of this hate.
“This hate is being organised from Israel. And I’m not afraid to say it because I know Christian Wakeford, that what I’m saying is not a lie.”
Addressing a sold-out crowd, he added: “[Waters] said, oh and used the Star of David on a giant pig…Guess what, Christian? I didn’t.
“Do your research, cripple!”
Why is Roger Waters antisemitic? Well, there is some debate as to whether Roger Waters’ use of Nazi-like uniforms is antisemitic or inappropriate. And also the offensive use of putting a Star of David onto a pig, something he has now stopped doing because he acknowledged it could cause offense.
Waters wears the outfits as part of a performance to speak out against the evils of fascism. However, he is misguided on what fascism is because he accuses Israel of being fascist. His antisemitism comes when he accuses Israel, the world’s only Jewish state, of being like the Nazis.
This is where his hatred of Israel has on more than one occasion crossed the line into antisemitism.
He has in the past claimed the “Jewish lobby” have a strong sway on US politics, that is antisemitic. When Roger Waters accuses Israel of being “worse than Nazis” or comparing Israel’s policies as being like that of the Nazis, that too is antisemitic according to the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
Since Roger Waters made news last month when he performed in Germany and compared Anne Frank’s death to that of a Palestinian journalist, there has been a lot more action in trying to counter his lies. Some British Jews have also started to protest his events.
Jewish activists stormed the Roger Waters concert last night.
Watch until the end to understand how Roger's bigotry is influencing his fans. pic.twitter.com/cqe1CHSAsi
— Israel Advocacy Movement (@israel_advocacy) June 8, 2023
Israel Advocacy Movement has organised and documented some of the protests, including when protesters held up Israeli flags inside a concert at the O2 Arena in London.
The Israeli flags featured the words, “Hey, Roger, leave us Jews alone.”
As the gunfire from Waters’ mock gun rang out through the arena, security guards were quick to pounce onto the protesters, rip their flags from their hands and remove them from the venue. Other protesters waited outside the venue and protested there.
Another troubling take away from the evening was when IAM spoke with fans of Roger Waters outside the arena they included people doing Nazi salutes at them and one man spoke about “Jews controlling the world.”
This year, we want to do more to bless Israel and the Jewish people.
We know that as we bless Israel this year, God will bless us, just as He promised in Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Now is the time to bless Israel and the Jewish people.
