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Artist News
Waters denies Wall sequence is anti-semitic
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 4 October 2010
Roger Waters has responded to allegations that a visual sequence in his current ‘The Wall Live’ tour is anti-Semitic. The US-based Anti-Defamation League, which exists primarily to stop the defamation of the Jewish community, took offence at a video sequence played out during ‘Goodbye Blue Sky’ in which a B-52 bomber is seen dropping various symbols, including a crucifix, the star of David, a dollar sign and the logos of Shell and Mercedes.
Somewhat misunderstanding the point of the sequence – which I’m pretty sure was meant to show how major powers have a long history of inflicting themselves on less powerful nations to further their religious and commercial interests – the ADL said that by putting the star of David next to a dollar sign Waters was “dredging up the worst age-old anti-Semitic stereotype about Jews and their supposed obsession with making money”.
Waters responded via an open letter, published in The Independent newspaper, saying that he felt compelled to say something to ensure the ADL’s allegations didn’t become to be accepted as fact. He wrote: “I watch the workings of politics here [in the US] and particularly the Republican Party. They work with the axiom that you can tell as many lies as you want – and often the bigger the better – and eventually they will believed. If I don’t respond people will see the story and will come to believe I’m anti-Semitic, and I’m not. Nothing could be further from the truth”.
He added that the symbolic bombs imagery was meant to be “representative of religious and national and commercial interests, all of which have a malign influence on our lives and prevent us from treating each other decently”.
He went on to argue that he was a target of the ADL because of his past criticism of Israel’s occupation of Palestine. He wrote: “It’s a screen that they hide behind. I don’t think they should be taken seriously on that. You can attack Israeli policy without being anti-Jewish. It’s like saying if you criticise the US policy you are being anti-Christian. I’m critical of the Israeli policy of occupying Palestinian land and their policy of building settlements, which is entirely illegal under international law, and also of ghettoising the people whose land they are building on. It’s that foreign policy I’m against. It’s nothing to do with the religion”.
