Roger Waters announces legal action as ‘antisemitic’ concert tour of Germany faces growing opposition.
By Ben Cohen, The Algemeiner
The former Pink Floyd vocalist Roger Waters has announced that he is pursuing legal action against the “unconstitutional” decision of a German city council to cancel his May 28 concert after it cited his alleged status “one of the world’s best-known antisemites” as the reason.
A statement released by Waters’ management company on Wednesday pledged that the singer would “fight back” to defend his “freedom of speech,” asserting that the bid to cancel the singers’ appearances in Germany as part of his “This is Not A Drill 2023” tour was “unconstitutional.”
The statement noted both the cancelation of Waters’ appearance in Frankfurt and the moves currently underway in Munich to prevent his May 21 date in the Bavarian capital from going ahead.
“As a result of this unilateral, politically motivated action, Mr Waters has instructed his lawyers to immediately take all necessary steps to overturn this unjustifiable decision to ensure that his fundamental human right of freedom of speech is protected and that all of those who wish to see him perform, are free to do so in Frankfurt, Munich and in any other city in any other country,” the statement declared.
The statement bemoaned what it called “unconstitutional actions” based upon “the false accusation that Roger Waters is antisemitic, which he is not.”
In its explanation of its decision to cancel Waters’ concert at the city’s Festhalle venue, the Frankfurt council highlighted those aspects of Waters’ activities that have rung alarm bells elsewhere in Germany, such as his backing for the campaign to subject the State of Israel to a regime of “boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS)” as a prelude to its elimination as a sovereign state, and for his role in pressuring other artists not to perform in Israel.
It also highlighted the use of antisemitic imagery in Waters’ past concerts, including a balloon shaped like a pig and embossed with a Star of David and various corporate logos.
A supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Waters’ recent activities have included a Feb. 8 appearance at the UN Security Council. Invited to address the body by the Russian mission to the UN, Waters delivered a rambling speech in which he claimed to be speaking on behalf of the world’s “voiceless majority” while denouncing Ukraine’s democratic government as “provocateurs.”
Meanwhile, pressure is growing in the other German cities where Waters is scheduled to appear for those performances to be nixed, among them Berlin, Cologne — where a cross-party group of politicians has alread called for the cancelation of Waters’ May 9 concert at the city’s Lanxess Arena — and Hamburg.
“If we are serious about fighting antisemitism, then the concert in Hamburg must also be canceled,” the city’s antisemitism commissioner, Stefan Hensel, told the Judische Allgemeine news outlet.
A spokesperson for the Barclays Arena in Hamburg, where Waters will perform on May 7, told the NDR broadcaster that while the Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the venue, “condemned all forms of antisemitism,” it would still honor its “contractual obligations” to Waters.