Roger Waters: I’m brave for facing antisemitism accusations

Infamous English rock musician, Roger Waters, posted a video on his X, formerly Twitter, account on Thursday in which he talked about what he saw as being falsely labeled an antisemite for opposing Israel.

Waters posted the video one day after Campaign Against Antisemitism released a documentary entitled, “The Dark Side of Roger Waters.” 

In Waters’ X post, the video, which is in black-and-white, opens with Waters answering a question from a fan.

ANSWERING FAN QUESTIONS. THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON REDUX. OCTOBER 6TH - https://t.co/d9JVvLnA8t pic.twitter.com/vMYVlZD3rQ

— Roger Waters ✊ (@rogerwaters) September 28, 2023

Waters fan Tamara Saif, wrote to the English musician asking, “How has your experience been in Germany considering the senseless antisemitism allegations for merely standing up to colonialism?”

“Oh, Tamara, I’m beginning to love you, babe,” Waters said before proceeding to read out Saif’s next question.

“Also, what advice would you give a Palestinian in Germany who wants to fight for the rights of her people without facing such allegations too?” Waters read.

Many of the allegations of antisemitism leveled at Waters, including many in the Campaign Against Antisemitism documentary, highlighted instances of Waters’ antisemitism that are altogether separate from the subject of Israel.

“You have to ignore the allegations, Palestinian or not. You know, I mean, I know Israelis who live in Germany, who stand up for Palestinian rights, and in consequence, they are attacked by the police,” Waters says in his video. “You’re not allowed to gather together in public in Germany if you’re in the BDS.”

Despite this, Waters was allowed to play a concert in Berlin earlier this year where he dressed up as an SS officer and compared Anne Frank to Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

At that same concert, pro-Palestine BDS demonstrators gathered outside with Palestinian flags and banners.

Nevertheless, in the video, Waters went on to add, “It’s not quite illegal, but the police are given a free hand to throw tear gas at you and beat you over the head with batons. If you gather in the street with a Palestinian flag to complain about the apartheid state of the occupation in Palestine.”

Waters further explained that while he was protected from slander to a degree, he understood how difficult it is to be, as he describes, constantly lied about and attacked.

“It just shows how desperate they are,” he says.

Regarding Saif’s second, questing, with respect to what advice he would give to a Palestinian in Germany who wants to fight for the rights of Palestinians without being labeled an antisemite, Waters speaks about his own experience.

“Brave as you have to be to do it, just keep doing what you are doing,” Waters said. “People have said that to me often, people who I admire, and I sometimes go, ‘But what can I do?’ And they look at me and grin and they go, ‘just keep doing what you’re doing.’ That’s all you can do. Don’t give in.”

"Don't be antisemitic if you don't want to be called an antisemite"

Many of the replies to Waters’ X post were critical of the musician, arguing that he was an antisemite even irrespective of his stance on Israel.

My advice for anyone who wants to stand up for Palestine without facing allegations of antisemitism - try not to say things like "dirty k*ke" or "f***ing Jew".

— Noy Hilda (@NoyHilda) September 29, 2023

“My advice for anyone who wants to stand up for Palestine without facing allegations of antisemitism - try not to say things like "dirty k*ke" or "f***ing Jew," wrote one commenter.

Similarly, the Campaign Against Antisemitism criticizes Waters for antisemitism for using the, albeit misspelled, anti-Jewish slur, “kyke,” allegedly calling a former agent “a f***ing Jew,” and allegedly mocking his former saxophonist's Holocaust-surviving grandmother, among numerous other things.