Eran Suissa and Israel Hayom Staff
Former Pink Floyd bassist
and long time Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions supporter Roger Waters
|
Photo credit: AFP  |
The similarities between
Israel and 1930s Germany are "crushingly obvious," according to musician
and longtime anti-Israel activist Roger Waters.
In an interview given to Counter Punch
magazine, the former Pink Floyd bassist continued to voice his call for a
cultural boycott of Israel.
"The situation in Israel/Palestine, with the
occupation, the ethnic cleansing and the systematic racist apartheid
Israeli regime is unacceptable," Waters said.
"So for an artist to go and play in a country
that occupies other people's land and oppresses them the way Israel
does, is plain wrong. I would not have played for the Vichy government
in occupied France in the Second World War, I would not have played in
Berlin either during this time. Many people did, back in the day. There
were many people who pretended that the oppression of the Jews was not
going on. From 1933 until 1946. So this is not a new scenario. Except
that this time it's the Palestinian people being murdered. ... The
parallels with what went on in the 30s in Germany are so crushingly
obvious that it doesn't surprise me that the [Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions] movement is growing every day."
Waters' call for a cultural boycott of Israel
has largely not succeeded, and many big-name artists have recently come
to Israel to perform, such as Rihanna and Alicia Keys. Asked why he
thought he was in the minority in taking his political stance, Waters
said: "This has been a very hard sell, particularly where I live in the
United States of America. The Jewish lobby is extraordinarily powerful
here and particularly in the industry that I work in, the music
industry, and in rock and roll, as they say. I promise you, naming no
names, I've spoken to people who are terrified that if they stand
shoulder to shoulder with me they are going to get f----ed."
No comments:
Post a Comment