Black organization that promotes solidarity with Israel slams the virulent anti-Israel British musician for his “obsession with Jews.”

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

The head of a black organization that promotes solidarity with Israel slammed anti-Semitic British musician Roger Waters over his “obsession with Jews” after Waters called on famous American musician Stevie Wonder to turn down a prestigious Israeli award.

On Tuesday, Rogers posted a video online in which he called on the world-famous Black American musician to reject award that includes a $100,000 prize.

“This is an apartheid regime,” Waters said in the video. “This is Israel. You will be whitewashing them beyond all belief.”

Waters is a strong supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to delegitimize Israel and a known anti-Semite. In 2013, he flew a giant a giant pig balloon at one of his concerts with a Star of David on its back. Iin 2015, the Anti-Defamation League concluded that “Roger Waters has absorbed classic anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, and these have now seeped into the totality of his views.”

Waters’ video caught the attention of Joshua Washington, director of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI), an organization “dedicated to strengthening the relationship between Israel and the Jewish people, and people of African descent.”

“Waters is now dictating to Wonder that he should not accept the Wolf Prize from Israel,” Washington wrote in his blog on Times of Israel. “Despite his own passionate obsession with Jews and infatuation with Hamas, other artists do not have to follow in his misguided footsteps; the least of whom being Stevie Wonder.”

“Israel-haters feel they can dictate to Black people like the days of apartheid and Jim Crow segregation. BDS is as racist as it is anti-Semitic,” Washington said.

Last month, Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin announced that Wonder, 70, blind since infancy and a precocious musician who released his first album at the age of 12, was the co-winner of the 2021 Wolf Prize for music along with Austrian composer Olga Neuwirth.

Rivlin praised Wonder “for his tremendous contribution to music and society enriching the lives of entire generations of music lovers,” adding that the musician pushed the boundaries of his art and “made it a tool that serves universal and idealistic humanist values.”

“The Wolf Prize expresses the State of Israel’s acknowledgement that human progress is an achievement not to be taken for granted,” Rivlin stated.

Washington dismissed Waters’ attempt to interfere.

“The music legend, Stevie Wonder is free to make his own decision as to whether or not he will accept Israel’s Wolf Prize. It would not be wise, however, to take advice from rabid anti-Semites like Roger Waters,” said Washington.

The post Roger Waters pressuring Stevie Wonder to reject prestigious Israeli award appeared first on World Israel News.

Wonder had cancelled a scheduled fundraiser concert organized by Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF), saying it would be inconsistent with his status as a UN “Messenger of Peace.”

By AP and World Israel News Staff

Music legend Stevie Wonder on Tuesday was awarded Israel’s Wolf Prize, headlining a group of laureates in the arts and sciences receiving the prestigious recognition.

Wonder was recognized for “his tremendous contribution to music and society enriching the lives of entire generations of music lovers,” according to a statement from President Reuven Rivlin’s office.

In the summer of 2012, Wonder was among celebrities who canceled performances in Israel, caving to pressure from the anti-Israel Boycott-Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. As reported at the time by Abraham Cooper and Harold Brackman of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Forbes, “Some celebrities who have caved to pressure—such as Meg Ryan, Carlos Santana, Elvis Costello, and Stevie Wonder, Snoop Dogg—gave the excuse of ‘scheduling conflicts.’”

Wonder’s scheduled concert in Israel was organized by Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF).  Upon canceling, he said it would be inconsistent with his status as a UN “Messenger of Peace.”

The Wolf Foundation is a state-owned entity that issues the award to promote excellence in science and the arts. About three dozen Wolf Laureates have gone on to win Nobel prizes.

Wonder, who has received more than two dozen Grammy Awards, has produced a string of hits over a long career that began when he was a youngster who performed as Little Stevie Wonder. His classic hits include “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” “Superstition,” “I Just Called to Say I Love You” and “Living for the City.”

Wonder will share the music award with Austrian composer Olga Neuwirth.

“Each one of them can bring us out of the depths and lift our souls in a way that sometimes we don’t even fully understand,” said Rivlin, who announced the awards.

Rivlin said the laureates were selected “for their achievements on behalf of humanity.”

The prizes are usually awarded later in the year in a ceremony at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. But due to the pandemic, the awards will be given at the laureates’ place of residence.

The post Stevie Wonder awarded prestigious Israeli prize despite caving to BDS pressure appeared first on World Israel News.