Roger Waters threatens to sue: boycott the boycotter

Roger Waters cannot complain about a lack of attention. The founder of Pink Floyd always makes headlines, but these are only marginally related to music.

Ever since he sprayed the line “We don’t need no thought control” from the Pink Floyd song “Another Brick in the Wall” on an Israeli barrier during a visit to the West Bank in 2006, he has been one of the most prominent supporters of the in parts Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against the State of Israel, classified as anti-Semitic.

Most recently, he spoke of a “proxy war” that the USA had instigated as the “main aggressor” in Ukraine and gave a speech at the UN General Assembly at the invitation of Russia.

The 79-year-old singer and bassist has now announced that he will take legal action against the planned cancellation of his concerts in Frankfurt and Munich. The cancellation was “unconstitutional” and “unjustified,” said his management in London. It is based “on the false accusation that Roger Waters is anti-Semitic, which he is not”.

Waters has instructed his attorneys to “take immediately all necessary steps to overturn this unjustified decision and to ensure that his fundamental human right to freedom of expression is protected.”

Waters comes across as stubborn and argumentative, he spreads conspiracy myths and hatred of Jews. At concerts he released a balloon in the shape of a pig with a Star of David on it. He has compared Israel’s policies to the Holocaust and claimed that Israeli experts are teaching American police officers how to kill black people.

The Hessian state government and the Frankfurt city council call him “one of the most widespread anti-Semites in the world”. That’s why they want to cancel Waters’ concert planned for May 28 in the Frankfurt Festhalle. There is a similar discussion in Munich, where the musician wants to perform in the Olympic Hall on May 21st. Both venues are city-owned.

It’s different in Berlin, where Waters is scheduled to play in the private Mercedes-Benz Arena on May 17th and 18th. The best solution here would be that nobody goes there.

To home page