Roger Waters has responded to charges of anti-Semitism from a representative of the Jewish human-rights organisation, the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Waters recently came under fire after video of a July 18 performance in Belgium of The Wall tour circulated online showing an inflatable giant pig featured in his show carried a Star of David on its side.
In an email to Jewish newspaper The Algemeiner, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, claimed that Waters “is an open hater of Jews” and urged other artists to “denounce his anti-Semitism and bigotry.”
Waters responded to the accusations in “An Open Letter From Roger Waters”, posted on his Facebook page, denouncing Cooper’s claims as “wild and bigoted”.
Waters refutes that he is anti-Semitic by pointing out that the Anti-Defamation League said they didn’t believe Waters had “anti-Semitic intent.” The crucifix, crescent and star, hammer and sickle, Shell Oil logo and McDonalds sign were also stamped on the pig.
As for being “Jew-hating”, Waters refers Cooper to his relationship with Simon Wiesenthal and his daughter-in-law, who he says is Jewish.
You can read Waters full post here.
Waters has previously been highly critical of the Israeli government, likening Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza to South Africa’s apartheid policy segregating blacks and whites. “They are running riot,” Waters said in a March 2013 interview with The Electronic Intifada. He also called on Western acts to boycott playing Israel.
You can watch Waters address the United Nations on November 29 last year, where he addressed alleged violations of international law by Israel against the Palestinian people.