Clapton has recently been performing with a guitar that he painted in the colors of the Palestinian flag.

By Shiryn Ghermezian, The Algemeiner

British singer-songwriter and guitarist Eric Clapton promoted the antisemitic conspiracy theory that Israel runs the world during an interview last week on the YouTube channel “The Real Music Observer.”

The Grammy Award winner and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, 79, referenced recent US congressional hearings where lawmakers grilled presidents of elite universities about surging antisemitism and rampant anti-Israel demonstrations on their campuses.

“I was so enthused about what was going on at Columbia [University] and everywhere. And then I saw, what I couldn’t believe, because it freaked me out, were the Senate hearings, which were like the Nuremberg trials, you know?” Clapton said during his guest appearance on “The Real Music Observer,” hosted by David Spuria.

“The Senate committee would be asking pointed questions to presidents of universities, saying, ‘I just want to hear yes or no. Don’t talk to me about context. Yes or no, are you promoting antisemitism in your college? Yes or no.’ And I thought, what is this, the Spanish Inquisition? And it is! It’s AIPAC [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee], it’s the lobby. Israel is running the show. Israel is running the world.”

The hearings that Clapton referenced were held by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, not a Senate panel.

In November, a little more than a month after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, Clapton released an instrumental song called “Voice of a Child.”

The song’s music video features photos from pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel rallies around the world as well as images of destruction in the Gaza Strip.

The music video completely overlooks the Oct. 7 massacre that sparked the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Clapton has recently been performing with a guitar that he painted in the colors of the Palestinian flag.

Talking about the guitar while appearing on “The Real Music Observer,” he said, “We’re doing a thing now on this tour that I wrote originally as a tribute to Jeff Beck [who died in 2023]. I performed it at a tribute concert and then I didn’t play it anymore. But for this tour I’m doing it under a different guise. It’s the same tune, but I devoted it to the situation in Gaza. It’s called ‘Blue Dust’ because that’s what’s probably going to be left there. And I play a guitar that’s painted like the Palestinian flag.”

Clapton is a close friend of former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, who has openly expressed antisemitic and anti-Israel sentiments, and has performed in garments that resemble a Nazi SS officer uniform.

Clapton has defended Waters in the past, claiming that people “misinterpret” the latter’s position on Israel, and said last week that it takes “guts” to share political opinions like his.

The post Guitarist Eric Clapton says, ‘Israel is running the world,’ criticizes US hearings on campus antisemitism appeared first on World Israel News.

Eric Clapton also defended Roger Waters, saying that people “misinterpret” his position on Israel.

By Shiryn Ghermezian, The Algemeiner

Renowned British rock guitarist and singer-songwriter Eric Clapton said in a new interview that he nearly withdrew his support for US Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., commonly known as RFK Jr., because Kennedy was pro-Israel and deleted a tweet praising avid antisemite Roger Waters.

Clapton, 78, has several upcoming shows in the US, including a fundraiser in Los Angeles on Sept. 18 for RFK Jr., an attorney who is the nephew of former US President John F. Kennedy and the son of former US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

During his guest appearance Monday on the YouTube channel “The Real Music Observer,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee — who also attempted but failed to make a large donation to Kennedy’s presidential campaign — said he almost pulled back from supporting the candidate and restated his defense of Waters.

“I found it difficult at one point when he retracted that tweet about Roger [Waters] because of Roger’s stance on the Middle East, on Israel-Palestine politics,” the “Wonderful Tonight” singer explained. “I was nearly going to pull out — I didn’t know if I really, honestly, support this when Robert said, ‘I’m pro-Israel and the family has always been pro-Israel.’”

In late May, Kennedy praised Waters on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the former Pink Floyd frontman faced backlash for his concert in Berlin, where he performed in what looked like a Nazi SS officer uniform. A projection that played during the concert also compared Holocaust victim Anne Frank to Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh — who was accidentally shot and killed last year while covering an Israeli military raid in the West Bank — and the show was deemed as “deeply offensive to Jewish people.”

Kennedy deleted his tweet soon afterward, clarifying in a follow-up post that he does not share the same views as Waters regarding Israel.

“I support Israel’s right to exist within secure borders and I also support the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people,” the presidential candidate wrote at the time.

Clapton said on “The Real Music Observer” that he ultimately decided to keep supporting Kennedy when the politician further explained his viewpoint on the Palestinian cause and why he deleted the tweet.

“Someone with a microphone cornered [Kennedy] and asked him, ‘What about Palestine?’ and he said, ‘I hope they get all that they aspire to.’ And I thought, oh, OK, he left a little caveat there,” Clapton added.

Earlier in the interview, Clapton said of Kennedy: “He’s genuine and intelligent, and he can debate.”

Clapton also defended Waters, saying that people “misinterpret” his position on Israel.

Watch Clapton’s guest appearance on “The Real Music Observer” in the video below.

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