Protesters wave Israeli flag at Roger Waters concert in Frankfurt
(Photo: Ze'ev Avrahami)
After a series of performances in Germany that featured antisemitic messages, the US State Department was asked about the issue and issued an official response: 'He has a long record of using antisemitic displays to defame Jews'
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The storm of Roger Waters' concerts in Germany has reached the United States government. Early Wednesday morning the US State Department issued an official statement following Waters' performances in Berlin and Frankfurt, during which he was seen, among other things, wearing a uniform reminiscent of a Nazi officer's clothing, in what he described as a "statement against fascism."
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Roger Waters' performances in Germany featured antisemitic messages
(Photo: AP Photo / Chris Pizzello)
The appearance was so unusual and the criticism so harsh that the Berlin police decided to open an investigation into the matter. The U.S. State Department was asked about this during a briefing and issued an official response against the 79-year-old singer, one of the founders of the band Pink Floyd.
"His performance contained particularly offensive images toward the Jewish people and belittled the Holocaust," the statement said. "The artist in question has a long record of using antisemitic displays to defame Jews."
Last week, hundreds demonstrated outside the Festhalle Frankfurt, where Waters was performing, when some of them entered the hall, waved Israeli flags and chanted "Am Yisrael Chai," and one even jumped onto the stage until he was stopped by the security forces and taken out.
That performance was the most provocative of his tour. Beyond the regular features – which include messages that recall antisemitic representations and those that echo Nazi messages, such as clothes reminiscent of a Nazi officer's uniform – it took place in the hall where thousands of Jewish men from the city were brought and held after Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, and from where they were deported to Nazi concentration camps. The city of Frankfurt, which owns the hall, canceled the performance, but the city court overturned the decision.
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Roger Waters pays tribute to slain Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and compared her to Anne Frank
(Photo: Amir Bogan)
Following the Berlin police's decision to open an investigation against him, Waters responded with an aggressive statement.
"My recent performances in Berlin provoked an attack against me by those who want to discredit my name and silence me because they do not agree with my political views and moral principles," he wrote. "The elements of my performance in question are clearly a statement that opposes fascism, injustice and racism in all forms. Attempts to present the elements as something else are disingenuous and motivated by a political agenda," he said.
"The character of the unstable fascist demagogue has been a part of my performances since Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' in 1980. I have spent my whole life speaking out against oppressive regimes where I have not met them. When I was a child in the war, the name of Anne Frank came up many times in our house, she became an eternal reminder of what happens when fascism is left unchecked. My parents fought against the Nazis in World War II, with my father paying the price for it. Despite the outcome of the attack against me, I will continue to condemn injustice and all those responsible for it."
First published: 15:35, 06.07.23