Israeli ‘April Fools’ prank infuriates BDS activist Roger Waters

Israeli Strategic Affairs Ministry tweeted, as an April 1st joke, that Waters – who boycotts Israel – would be playing in Tel Aviv in July.  

By World Israel News Staff

British musician Roger Waters, a co-founder of the Pink Floyd band, has stood out in recent years for his anti-Israel activism, forcing Pink Floyd to cancel performances in Israel, urging other musicians to do the same, and speaking out against Israel’s hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest in May.

With that backdrop, Israel’s Strategic Affairs Ministry decided to play an April Fool’s Day prank on Monday, posting on its 4IL Twitter account: “Pink Floyd legend @rogerwaters is coming to Tel Aviv! Mark your calendars!”  It gave the date as July 16, 2019.

Waters was not amused by the prank.

“HO! F***ING HO! EXCEPT THIS IS NO LAUGHING MATTER,” Waters wrote on Facebook.

He then proceeded to spread his anti-Israel rhetoric, continuing to write in upper case: “THE MURDER OF UNARMED CHILDREN AND PARAMEDICS AND JOURNALISTS AND OTHER PEACEFUL PROTESTERS BY COWARDS IN UNIFORM WITH HIGH POWERED SNIPER RIFLES FROM BEHIND FORTIFIED POSITIONS IS NOT A MATTER FOR JEST.”

Waters has been an active member of the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement. During his concerts, he has featured the anti-Semitic imagery of a large inflatable pig emblazoned with a Star of David.

Waters’ actions and rhetoric have spurred organizations to call upon corporations to drop their sponsorship of his concerts.

In November, the Simon Wiesenthal Center called on Citibank to withdraw its sponsorship of a Waters tour in Mexico.

“In 2018, Jews in the Americas and Europe have to deal with surging and even deadly anti-Semitism,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the organization’s associate dean and head of global social action. “Against this backdrop, it is inconceivable that a global corporate giant would be a financial enabler of a musician whose concerts’ trademark is a giant floating pig with a star of David and who daily demeans the largest Jewish community in the world: the Jewish State of Israel.”