US State Department accuses rock bank artist of antisemitism

WASHINGTON – The U.S. State Department has accused a rock band co-founder of using antisemitic insinuations.

Roger Waters, the co-founder of Pink Floyd, recently organized a show in Berlin that has angered the State Department.

The show featured re-enactments of scenes from a film based on Pink Floyd’s “The Wall,” an album critical of fascism.

Waters wore a black trench coat with a red armband that pointed to fascism, injustice, and bigotry.

He said criticism of the concert was “disingenuous and politically motivated”

The State Department said the concert contained images that were deeply offensive to Jewish people and trivialized the Holocaust.

Waters is a supporter of the Palestinian cause.

He was part of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel.

He has been highlighting the Israeli occupation and the violation of Palestinians’ human rights.

After the concert, police in Berlin launched an investigation into suspicions that the costume incite hatred.

“The artist in question has a long track record of using antisemitic tropes to denigrate Jewish people,” the State Department said. 

Deborah Lipstadt, the U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, also criticized the concert.

She called it a “Holocaust distortion.”

Despite the criticism, the artist said he would continue to highlight the situation of Palestinians.

 He has also spoken out against a bill in the U.S. Senate aimed at silencing supporters of BDS.

 The bill called the Israeli Anti-Boycott Act, stipulates that supporters of the boycott campaign against Israel could be punished with up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

He said this bill violates First Amendment rights and aims to protect Israel from a nonviolent pressure movement.